Seen but not Heard
by DarkraixCresselia
Summary: Sophia was taught from a young age that she should be seen but not heard. For most of her life, she has stayed silent. But when she moves to a new neighborhood and makes new friends, she becomes involved in a big mystery that will change her life forever. Perhaps it will help to release her voice once again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I've wanted to write a story for this franchise for some time, but never had any good ideas. Now, I think this is pretty promising.**

**I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

* * *

Back in the olden days of humanity, it was a common belief that children should be seen and not heard. Even though that belief is nearly extinct, if not totally extinct today, there were those who still held that belief. And some of them weren't even human.

One such example was a family of purebred Sphinx cats. These hairless cats lived in the old ages, when kits were to be seen and not heard, unless spoken to otherwise. The parents of three kits taught their children their golden rule. Two kits listened and obeyed, not uttering a word unless granted permission.

One kit, however, wasn't so loyal. This one fought against her parents' beliefs, and talked with her siblings, her blind old grandfather, and even to their human owners, though it came out as mews and purrs. If anyone wanted to listen, she would talk. She was very smart, learning to read human books at a young age.

Talking when she wasn't allowed to was one bad thing. But learning to read, that was another. And the kit's father was less than pleased. Much less. He was furious. He yelled at her, smacked her around, and confined her to a room from the afternoon to the morning the next day. When she tried to talk with her brother that day, she got the same treatment from her father as before.

Soon, it stuck with her to be seen and not heard. So much so that she stopped speaking, period. She only answered with nods, head shakes, or shrugs. This seemed to please her father.

The kit was miserable without her voice. She never smiled, or looked even remotely happy. Her father was unconcerned, and even uncaring. Her mother saw that her daughter was unhappy, but never went to comfort her, knowing it would make her mate angry. Her siblings didn't care, and never did anything about their sister's sadness, knowing they would be in trouble if they talked without being spoken to. They didn't want to risk their skins for their sister, whom had disobeyed their parents for months.

Finally came the day the kits would be adopted out. Their parents allowed them to speak freely from that day forward. The female misfit, however, never spoke a word. Her family couldn't care less, and her father almost looked smug. The kit decided enough was enough, and that she didn't like living as a pet. When no one was looking, and the door was still open, she ran out of the apartment and down the sidewalk, never looking back.

For the next year, she lived on the streets, learning to hunt, search for food, and avoid dogs. She had gotten caught one day, and was kept as a pet for some time, and was even given a silver collar, with the name "Sophia" engraved in the collar. She liked having a name, but she didn't like being confined indoors, nor being a pet, period. She longed for the outdoors. Even when the sun made her bare skin feel hot, and the snow made her feel cold, those sensations told her that she was alive. If she couldn't feel hot or cold, or smell the fresh air, she wasn't happy.

So, one day, she leapt out of the balcony of the house, and ran again, not looking back. After that, she made sure to never get caught again. She kept the collar however, having gotten used to it. It also gave her a name, which she didn't want to lose.

She found a neighborhood she liked, and decided to stay a while. Little did Sophia know that she would become involved in big murder mystery that would change her life forever.

* * *

It was a nice neighborhood at first glance. Sophie wondered if she would eventually decide to stay permanently. But she knew even if the neighborhood appeared nice, it had its deep, dark, dirty secrets. And she had a sneaking feeling in her gut that this would be one of those neighborhoods.

She trotted along the sidewalk, glancing around. Aside from humans walking around as well, there wasn't much activity.

Sophia shook her head as a rotten smell came across her nose. Wrinkling her velvet nose, she jumped onto a brick fence, and to the ground, landing in the bushes. A few steps out, she gasped sharply, just barely keeping herself from screaming, at the sight of a dead, short-haired orange tabby tom laying in the grass, bleeding from a deep gash in his neck. His green eyes stared lifelessly at the cloudy sky, and his mouth hung open, with blood on his tongue and teeth.

Sophia stood there, shaking at the sight of the murdered cat. _Wh-what do I do?! What do I do?!_

Her inner ramblings were interrupted when a gruff voice yowled, "Hey! You!"

Gasping again, Sophia scurried back into the bushes to hide, not thinking to jump back over the fence. It wouldn't have mattered; the tom who had yelled—she assumed it was a tom—would have easily followed her out onto the street.

"Come out with your tail down, asshole!" The voice growled. When Sophia failed to answer, she felt sharp teeth close around her skinny, rat-like tail. She squeaked in pain as she was dragged out into the open. "Whatduh?" The muffled voice grumbled, spatting out her tail. "Are you a giant rat, or some kind of hairless cat?"

Sophia looked over her shoulder to see a stocky cat that looked like a Manx. He was dark reddish-brown in color, with his face, belly, back paws, and front right paw being beige. His right eye was shut tight, and it looked like there was a large, dark, gouge scar over said eye, and his left paw was mangled, looking very much smaller than its twin.

She sat up, curled her tail around her haunches, and licked at the tip. The tip and base of her tail were pink, and the middle was pinkish-gray. Her front paws, whole left ear, and right ear tip were also gray, and she had gray splotches on her back and legs, and she had a gray stripe running from the back of her neck to the middle of her ears.

"Guess you're a hairless cat." The Manx remarked, sitting down as well. Once Sophia finished grooming her tail, she turned around and sat in front of the tom, glancing at the dead tom with a questioning expression. "In case you were wondering, I had nothing to do with this." He shook his head. "I just found him, and thought _you_ had taken him out."

Sophia's eyes widened as she shook her head frantically, backing away. "Toots, I said I _thought_ you did it." The tom rolled his eye. "I didn't say you did it. You'd be pretty beat up too."

Sophia relaxed, glancing at the dead tom. "So, not gonna say anything?" The Manx asked, scratching behind one small ear. "What's the matter, cat gotcher tongue?" He laughed at the joke.

Sophia deadpanned at the tom, not impressed. "Seriously, though, can you not talk?"

She nodded slightly haughtily. "Well, why haven't you made a sound?"

Sophia pointed at her eye with a paw and nodded. Then, she pointed at her ear, and shook her head. The Manx cocked his head in confusion. She did the gestures again, raising an eyebrow. "Seen…but not heard?"

She nodded, smiling slightly. The tom laughed again, "C'mon, that saying's been dead since before I was born. How'm I supposed to know your name?"

Sophia simply puffed out her chest, displaying her collar. The tom sniffed the collar, and saw the engraved name. "Sophia, huh?"

She nodded, slightly impressed. "Impressed, huh Toots? I'm much smarter than I look. I even read a book once in my lifetime. The name's Bluebeard. You new to the neighborhood?"

Sophia nodded again, glancing at the dead tom and wrinkling her nose. "Well, he's the third to drop dead this month." Bluebeard said as Sophia's jaw dropped in surprise. "But how 'bout we get away from this stinker and I show you 'round?"

Sophia nodded with a smile, turned around, and jumped back onto the stone fence. Bluebeard joined her, and led her down the length of the fence.

* * *

**A/N I originally was going to stop when it mentioned the neighborhood changing Sophia's life forever, but decided it was kinda short. And I was able to introduce my favorite character of the film; in German, he's known as Blaubart (did I spell that right?) but in English, he's Bluebeard. I think he's the only character with a name change per language change.**

**Also, I've seen both German and English versions of the movie, and will try and mix them up in this story.**

**I won't be updating this or my Rise of the Guardians story for a couple weeks because my family and I will be on vacation for two weeks. But I wanted to get this out as soon as possible.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**NightWolf1159: Thanks :D Felidae's one of my favorite films as well. I think my favorite character is Bluebeard.**

**Guest: I believe Sphinx cats being "the ugliest cat breeds known to man" is something of opinion. Some think they're ugly, and some think they're beautiful. I personally think they look like cute little raisins. And someone must have liked them enough to specifically breed them into the cats being purposefully hairless. So hopefully if this story is decent, Sophia's breed won't deter anyone from reading it.**

**Sesshysgirl1997: I've been somewhat able to get back to writing this recently, so hopefully it'll get interesting enough :) Thanks :)**

* * *

Bluebeard led Sophia through the neighborhood, telling her a small story or two every now and then. Sophia listened politely, looking around. The neighborhood was a nice-looking one, despite her welcoming present earlier that day. _So this neighborhood has a small reputation for housing a murderer. _She thought to herself. _I guess I better watch my back carefully from now on. Unless I decide to leave in a few days._

Her thoughts were interrupted by loud rustling in the bushes. She froze in place, staring at the bush. She tapped Bluebeard's hind leg with a paw, and gestured at the bush. "Yeah, I heard it too." He nodded. "Get out here and show your face!" He yelled at the bush.

Loud, obnoxious laughter sounded, and a large cat emerged from the bushes. At least, Sophia thought it was a cat. This creature was as large as a dog, had massive paws, a large hump on its back, and a large, square chin. "Bluebeard, that has to be the ugliest rat I've ever seen! And you're keeping it alive?"

"Sophia ain't no rat, Kong," Bluebeard sniffed. "She's just a hairless cat."

Sophia raised an eyebrow at Bluebeard, though he either didn't notice, or just pretended not to. She turned to Kong, who continued to laugh, with a slightly curled lip. "Anyway, Toots, that's Kong," Bluebeard said. "One of the biggest assholes on the block. And his…'friends,' Herman and Herman."

Two scrawny, identical-looking cats joined Kong, sneering at Sophia. She cocked her head at Bluebeard, who shrugged his shoulders.

"A hairless cat, eh?" Kong asked, finally breaking out of his laugh spell. "Not quite the ugliest thing I've ever seen, I guess. She probably won't last long in this town anyway."

Bluebeard rolled his eyes as he and Sophia continued on. "Like I said, Kong's the biggest ass in town, both literally and figuratively. Just stay away from him, and he shouldn't hurt you."

* * *

That evening, Bluebeard and Sophia arrived at a tall, old house. In the attic, Sophia could see a blue light that seemed to be mildly flashing, and could hear other cats from the same level. She looked at Bluebeard with a questioning expression as they climbed inside and up the steps. "There's a sect that goes on in this place." He explained. "Especially after there's been a killing. They pray to this dead cat called Claudandus."

Sophia nodded as they entered the attic. Hundreds of cats were already sitting, including Kong and the Herman twins. There was a machine in the back of the room, with a large box to its left. Sitting on the box was a large Persian cat. "That's the sect's leader, Joker." Bluebeard whispered in the Sphinx's ear. "He always greets new members, so when he sees you, he'll want to meet you afterwards."

Sophia nodded as the Persian began shouting, "After only a slight punishment, he received great blessings! Because God had tested him and found him worthy of it! In the name of Brother Claudandus!" He pressed a lever on the box, making a large bolt of blue lightning strike between two bolts on the machine. Two random cats approached the machine, and to Sophia's shock, leapt into the electricity. Her own blue eyes widened at the pained shrieks. She shook in fright as they fell to the ground, twitching and still screeching in pain. She cowered down next to Bluebeard, toning out everything until the very end. She only sat up with Bluebeard nudged her in the side.

"A new member, I see." Joker said, approaching her and Bluebeard. "And who might you be, my dear?"

"This sister is Sophia." Bluebeard said. "She doesn't speak, but isn't deaf either."

Sophia nodded, bowing her head respectfully to the larger and older cat. "I see." Joker nodded. "And did you enjoy the service this evening, Sophia?"

In truth, Sophia had been very frightened when the cats basically committed suicide, leaping into the electricity on their own free will. But she didn't want to appear impolite—not to mention she was afraid of what Joker would do to her if she said no—so she nodded with a slight smile. "Your first time here?" He asked softly.

She nodded again. "I expect first timers to be frightened. Go home now. And may Brother Claudandus protect you from the murderer."

She bowed again before following Bluebeard. Once outside, she shuddered heavily, tail lashing. The one-eyed Manx laughed at her. "Ah, you'll get used to it Toots. So, you got a place to stay?"

She shook her head. "Come with me then." He led her into a dark alleyway, to three large crates covered by a tarp. Underneath was an old, holey cushion, and some smaller, rattier pillows. "It ain't much, but it's home." He suddenly glared at her. "I'm not gonna find some can openers lookin' for their lost kitty in the morning, am I?"

Sophia blinked in confusion. "Can openers, as in humans. You ain't got a can opener who's lookin' for you, do ya?" He asked again, sitting on one side of the cushion.

Snorting, Sophia shook her head, scratched the ground with her hind feet, threw her tail up at the door, and curled up on the cushion next to the older cat. As she drifted off to sleep, she heard him chuckling, "I think I'm gonna like you, Soph."

* * *

**A/N Sorry I haven't been writing recently, even though my family and I got back from Vegas/California last Tuesday. I had to take some pills for a brief allergy reaction (I just had some hives from smelling roasting nuts for too long) and had just been recovering from the trip in general. And this chapter writing progress has been slower than a snail in the beginning because I had, and still kinda have, writer's block. So, this chapter isn't very long, or in my opinion good. But I really wanted to get back on track with writing; I'll also try and start writing for my Rise of the Guardians fanfic as well.**

**The hardest part to write was Sophia meeting Kong and the Hermans. I'm not sure how he's portrayed in the book, but Kong looked more like a dog mutant than a cat in the film. The Hermans looked more like cats than him, and they were scrawny, ugly-looking things. Not to mention he's just not a nice guy.**

**Joker's dialogue during the sect was taken from the German-to-English transcript of Felidae, which I do not own.**

**Updates will more than likely still be slow for both this story and my Rise of the Guardians fanfic. But I'll still try and write as much as I can.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**Guest: I'm glad you like it so far :) Yes, he'll still be in the story. Sophia's basically an add-on character to the story, though a couple of things may be changed; similar to the butterfly effect, where if you alter even the smallest of things in the past, it has a big impact on the present day, in terms of time-traveling.**

**I'm glad you don't think Sophia's a mary-sue. I really try to make sure my OCs aren't mary-sues, so I'm always happy to hear they aren't. Also, Sophia isn't born mute, like Little Rose (one of my many Lion King OCs) nor did she become permanently mute. She can still speak, she just chooses not to. I won't say when, but she won't stay silent forever.**

* * *

Sophia slept uneasily that night. She sometimes had what she called mini-nightmares about her past; mostly her father forcing her, vocally and physically, to be seen and not heard, and being shut in a small room for the whole night.

And she had several mini-nightmares the night she arrived at the new neighborhood and met Bluebeard and the other cats.

Bluebeard snorted awake when someone kicked him in the side. "Hey, watch where you're kickin'!" He snapped, sitting up and yawning.

Sophia didn't wake up. Rather, she continued to toss and turn, whimpering under her breath, which was the first sound Bluebeard heard her make in knowing her for almost twenty-four hours, save for gasping. At one point or another, he could have sworn he heard her mutter under her breath, "Please, no, Father!"

"Hey, Soph," He nudged her with a paw. "Wake up."

Even in deep sleep, Sophia was easy to wake up with a simple nudge. So when Bluebeard pawed at her, she snapped awake, panting. "Sounds like you had quite a nightmare, Toots." Bluebeard remarked, licking his paw and wiping behind his ear. "Some Daddy troubles?"

Her eyes widened, and she sat up quickly, wrapping her skinny tail tightly around her paws, something she did when embarrassed. "Hey, it ain't none of my business." Bluebeard said. "Wanna go find some breakfast?"

Happy for the change of subject, Sophia nodded, standing and stretching.

* * *

For the next several days, Sophia felt happy in the neighborhood, despite the shaky start. When she woke up, she and Bluebeard would first go and find breakfast, which was usually garbage out of a dumpster, though she sometimes was able to save some rats, mice, or birds she hunted the previous day.

One day, about two weeks after arriving, Sophia went out on her own, leaving Bluebeard to take an afternoon nap at the crates. She walked by the large house the sect was held in, and saw an unfamiliar car parked beside it. She cocked her head about it, wondering if a human, or can opener, as Bluebeard called them, had moved in. _If that's the case, they'll get a nasty surprise at night when the sect goes on upstairs._

She then noticed the familiar smell of death and blood. _Oh no, not again!_ She followed her nose to the backyard, where she found a dead black cat under a tree. Once again, his throat was shredded, and his dead eyes stared at nothing.

Upon seeing it, Sophia ran back to the crates and shook Bluebeard awake. "Ugh, what do you want?" He grumbled.

She dragged a paw across her throat. "Another one?" He groaned.

Nodding, she led him to the house and sat on the roof overhanging the back patio. "Ah, shit." Bluebeard huffed, sitting down next to Sophia. "This one's Sascha. I didn't know him well, but I guess he's screwed now."

_Gee, really?_ Sophia's ear twitched upon hearing paw steps in the nearby window. Both she and Bluebeard looked back to see a black and white tom with intelligent-looking green eyes, and one white paw step out. Bluebeard turned back to the backyard, but Sophia still watched the new brother as he sat down next to her, watching them in curiosity. Blinking at him, Sophia turned back to Sascha's dead body, sighing. A horrified gasp told her the black and white tom saw him too.

Bluebeard jumped down into the backyard and approached the body. Sophia and the new tom followed him. "Damn can opener." The Manx grumbled.

"What?" The tom asked. "Can opener? I'm sorry, you lost me."

"It must have been a friggin' can opener," Bluebeard said. "Ain't it obvious? They gave our poor little Sascha a new ventilation hole in the throat."

"Oh, you mean a man?" The tom asked, glancing from Bluebeard to Sophia, who nodded. "Did either of you witness it?"

"Aw, hell no," Bluebeard shook his head, scratching his claws into the bark of the tree. "But only men are brutal enough to do a thing like this. Lousy can openers, whose only uses are for opening our dinner cans." He glanced down at Sascha and sighed, "And he's the fourth in the last month."

"Do you mean this is the fourth dead body?"

Sophia and Bluebeard glanced at each other with sarcastic smirks. _Nothing gets by this one, apparently._ Sophia thought to herself.

"I guess you're new on the block." Bluebeard remarked. "You taken up that shit heap in there? Interesting place. I go in there for a piss occasionally."

Sophia rolled her eyes as he laughed. The black and white tom was examining the corpse closely, and shook his head, "I don't think a can opener did this. This brother's throat's been shredded, not cut."

Bluebeard and Sophia looked at Sascha's throat, and the Manx began walking away silently, glancing back to ask, "Hey, little smartass, what do they call you?"

"Francis." The tom answered.

"'Francis'." Bluebeard rolled his eyes.

Francis raised an eyebrow at Bluebeard as he disappeared over the brick fence, and shrugged his shoulders. He turned to Sophia and asked, "And who are you, then?"

She gestured at her collar. He looked close at it and asked, "If I may ask, Sophia, why did you not speak? Are you able to?"

She nodded, and did what she did when Bluebeard asked the same question: she gestured at her eyes with a paw and nodded, and then gestured at her ear and shook her head.

"You must be seen but not heard?" Francis asked.

She nodded. "I see." The tom nodded, shrugging once. "How long have you been here? A week?"

Sophia shook her head and pawed at the ground twice. "Two weeks?"

She nodded. "My human, or rather can opener, as your friend calls them, Gus, and I just arrived. He writes poetry, you see, and often gets writer's block. He thinks moving helps them. So, you can put two and two together and see that we move a lot."

Sophia smiled kindly at him, leapt onto the brick fence that Bluebeard exited over, and waved her tail at Francis. "Goodbye." He nodded. "I have a feeling we may see each other again."

_Hopefully it won't be Bluebeard or I finding your corpse_.

* * *

**A/N I'm definitely picking up on writing again, even managing to finally start a new chapter for _the Halloween Cat 2_. But for the past few days, I've been sick with a cold, so I hadn't been up to writing much. I had finished this chapter before then, but then I got sick, and wasn't able to post it. I'll try and finish the THC 2 chapter as soon as I can, because I know it's been over a month since I updated it.**

**Some of you seem to have the misconception that Sophia can't speak, as opposed to her choosing to simply _not_ speak. As you can see in the beginning of this chapter, when Bluebeard sees her tossing and turning while she's sleeping, she _can_ speak. She's just been so scarred by her father's treatment, she doesn't speak out of habit and fear. Like I said, she won't stay silent forever ;)**

**So, this is where we start _Felidae_, canon-wise. As you can see, I'm not directly copying the dialogue from the film, English-dub or not. I tend to try and not basically copy-and-paste dialogue from movies, if I'm writing during a movie, and instead try to adjust it a bit, if that makes any sense. Plus, I may be writing from memory alone.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**Mirage1234: Thanks. There aren't many Felidae fanfics to begin with, and I like the film, so I decided to try my hand with this series.**

* * *

That night, Sophia snuck back to the house to see if Francis made it home alright. To her relief, she saw the black and white tom trot up to the house looking just fine. Even though she had just met Francis, she didn't want anything bad to happen to him, as he seemed like a kind and intelligent cat. Much better company than ones like Kong. She hadn't met up with the large cat much, only once or twice, and he was still as nasty and obnoxious as the day she met him.

The next morning, it was Bluebeard waking Sophia up with grim news. "Looks like there's been another one." He said. "Not that smartass, Francis, but an older cat, Deep Purple."

Sophia's ears tilted. She had met Deep Purple once, and seemed like a nice cat. He didn't seem put off that she never spoke, and had welcomed her to the neighborhood. Now he was gone; another innocent life taken. Truth be told, Sophia didn't know the other cats' lives, and Deep Purple could have been a horrible individual all along. But she liked to think that the cats were decent ones.

"There really hasn't been much of a pattern, aside from them being brothers." Bluebeard said as Sophia sifted through a dumpster for breakfast. "Anyone could be next. Who's to say the killer wouldn't go after a female?"

Sophia shuddered as she dropped a half-eaten fish down to the Manx. She found a chicken leg with only one bit taken out of it. She dropped that to the ground as well, and jumped down to eat. Once she was done, and had groomed herself, she nudged Bluebeard. "What?" He asked, his mouth full of fish.

Grimacing at his manners, she tapped her head with a paw, and wiggled her backside. After staring at her in confusion, Bluebeard asked, "The smartass? What about him? Show him Deep Purple?"

She nodded, tapping her head. "Well, either way, might be a good idea to at least tell him so he knows the killings are still going on. He doesn't sound like a bad guy."

A few hours later, Sophia climbed up the fire escape and nudged a cracked door open. She found Francis lying on the ground, tossing and groaning in a nightmare. She approached him and shook him. He gasped awake, and sat up, yawning. "Sophia?" He mumbled sleepily. "What are you doing here?" Behind her, he saw Bluebeard come in. "Did you come in here to take a leak? Forget it! You won't piss in here anymore. I live here now, and I have my standards."

Bluebeard shook his head. "Another killing?" Francis tried.

"How the hell did—yeah, there's been another one." Bluebeard said, sitting down by the door.

"Let me guess: this one's a tom, just like the other four stiffs." Francis said, scratching behind one ear.

Sophia's eyes widened. Bluebeard hadn't told him this, and neither had her. "Shit, yeah!" Bluebeard nodded. "How the hell did you know that?"

"Just a guess," Francis shrugged. "But an educated one."

"Anyway, this time, as I told Sophia, it's old Deep Purple who's gone to kingdom come this time. His throat looks like someone decided to test their new icepick to see if it works."

"One question: was Deep Purple castrated?"

Bluebeard ate a spider that had come down from a cobweb near him, making Sophia cringe in disgust, and laughed, "Purple? Castrated? Hah, no. He hadn't been 'getting in his game' lately. He was about as old as Methuselah, but he looked even older."

"Hmm." Francis hummed in thought, stepping out onto the balcony.

"Is that all you got to say?" Bluebeard huffed. "You're beginning to get on my nerves, wiseass."

Sophia joined Francis as he asked, "Where is Deep Purple's corpse now? Can you show it to me?"

"Sure." Bluebeard shrugged, stepping out. "Why not?"

"Say, what's _your_ name, smartass?"

"Bluebeard. And I've had more babes in my time than King Henry VIII." The Manx laughed.

Sophia shook her head with a smile. _So, you've had more than six "babes"? Somehow, I doubt that._

Later that evening, she found herself following Bluebeard to the garage the one-eyed cat said Deep Purple's corpse was found, with Francis right behind her. She could feel his eyes run over her before leaving to look elsewhere, and it made her a little self-conscious. She never thought herself to be ugly, but she knew Sphinx cats weren't very attractive, having very little hair to the point of feeling like a peach. And she wondered if Francis was judging her looks.

Before she could glance back at the tom, he cried out in surprise as several birds took flight. She jumped as well, but managed to hold her tongue. Bluebeard paused to look back, and high-pitched snickers broke the silence. Looking ahead, the three cats saw two familiar, identical-looking, scrawny cats. "Dead end!" They sounded, stalking towards the party.

_Oh dear. If they're here, a bigger and uglier cat must not be too far away._ Sophia groaned silently.

"Well, what do you know? Herman and Herman." Bluebeard shook his head. "Do me a favor, and don't tell me again how 'rewarding' and 'enriching' a life could be castrated. I still take your word for it. You're lighter on your feet at least, I suppose."

Herman and Herman glanced at each other and glared at the Manx. Then, the bushes snapped. "Kong," Bluebeard sighed. "How can you still put up with these two?"

Sophia cringed at the loud laugh. "Bluebeard! You ugly old furball. I see you've been cruising the gay scene! That cutie-pie behind the naked rat sure is a juicy number! Has he been teaching you some new techniques?"

Sophia grimaced and glanced back at Francis sympathetically. "No, but I think he'd like to teach you personally." Bluebeard shook his head as Kong stepped out into full view, still laughing in his annoying way. "Ah, so you _are_ looking for trouble? Okay then, come and get it!" The Manx challenged.

Kong leapt onto the stonewall the cats had been walking along, barely fitting. "Well, I'm impressed." Bluebeard said sarcastically. "And I see you want to show off for my friends, Sophia and Francis. Well, I'm not gonna sit here and let three take on two! So, bring it on, ugly bastard!" He scratched at the stone beneath him and hissed.

Sophia extended her long claws, pinned her ears back, and hissed loudly. Francis revealed his claws and hissed as well. Herman and Herman growled at the party of three.

Kong blinked in surprise, and laughed, "Hey, man, I'm pissing myself with fright! And as for _you_, Cutie-Pie, we'll be having a date, just you and I, in the not too-distant future. And so, 'till then!" He leapt over the stonewall, with the Hermans right behind him.

_So, Kong's sexuality is certainly…questionable. He's still an annoying prick though._

"Say, Bluebeard?" Francis asked. "It seems to me that you're backtracking some."

"You don't say." Bluebeard answered as the cats began moving again. "And why do you think so?"

"Well, you told him I was your friend. Especially when I believe you know even Sophia longer than I, as I've only been here a day, and Sophia's been here for two weeks."

Bluebeard grumbled under his breath. Sophia glanced over her shoulder at Francis with a smile.

* * *

Soon, they arrived at the garage. There were a few small puddles of dried blood outside, and when the cats stepped inside, slumped on a dusty old motorcycle was a dead, old, brown cat. Despite having seen two dead cats by now, Sophia flinched at the sight and still-lingering smell of death and blood.

"If you'd like, I think I can sum up Purple's last few minutes:" Francis said. "The murderer attacked outside. That's obvious by the blood in the garden." He jumped onto the motorcycle to get a closer look at the body. "Somehow, he was able to drag himself in here. Not too bad for a fella his age." He turned back to Bluebeard. "Didn't you say Purple was too old to be interested in females?"

"More like sex, but yeah." Bluebeard nodded. "Why?"

"Use your nose! Purple had gotten excited before he died!" Francis said, almost excitedly.

Bluebeard and Sophia sniffed the air. The female cat could indeed smell remaining male musk that male cats released when trying to attract a mate.

Francis jumped back down to the ground and said, "One big factor of the murders, as far as I can tell, is mating. Perhaps the murderer doesn't want or like competition for females, and wants to wipe out the males."

Sophia nodded slightly, remembering that Bluebeard had pointed out that the only victims, so far, had been strictly males.

"Or, perhaps," Francis continued. "He has an objection to the whole thing."

"These days, they call it 'cock-blocking.'" Bluebeard said. "And I still think it's a can opener!"

"Bluebeard, don't kid yourself! An icepick didn't cause this, or Sascha's death. This was done by teeth."

Sophia nudged Francis with a paw, and extended her claws. "She's right. Claws or teeth, a cat did this." The black and white tom agreed. "In order to solve this mystery, in my opinion, I'm going to have to know every soul and inch of this neighborhood. And you and Sophia are the two cats who can help me with that, Bluebeard."

"I know Soph would be pleased to help, but will _I_ be so willing? _That's_ the question." As Bluebeard stepped out of the garage, he paused and said, "Tomorrow, I'll take both of you to meet someone. Now _he's_ a _real_ clever bastard."

Sophia jumped onto the motorcycle and examined Deep Purple's paws. "What are you looking for?" Francis asked.

Sophia wiggled the toes on her front paw, and ruffled Deep Purple's fur. Francis joined her, evidently understanding, and glanced at the corpse's paws as well. "Hmm, good try. But either the murderer was smart enough to remove his fur, or he's a Sphinx, no offense."

Sophia shook her head with a slight smile, silently saying she wasn't offended. "Anyway, I think we've had enough excitement for one night. How about we both go home and get some rest?"

Nodding, Sophia waved goodbye with her tail before heading home.

She found Bluebeard sitting by the alleyway. "I was wondering if I'd have to go find you." He said. "I hate to say, but we won't be able to go to sleep tonight."

Her ears tilted in annoyance. _The sect. How could I forget?_

* * *

**A/N Not only am I putting Sophia into canon events, but I'm also trying to write a bit of plot inbetween events. For example, between the time Francis met Bluebeard and Bluebeard told Francis that another cat had been killed. Plus, Sophia's with a different cat than the main character of the film.**

**The part with Kong and the Hermans was a bit difficult to write, but I think it turned out decent.**

**Sophia looking for fur in Deep Purple's claws was kinda borrowed from the first book in the Warriors series, where a murdered female cat had brown fur stuck in her claws, proving that a gray cat hadn't killed her (fans of the series, I think you know what I'm talking about) I figured in this case, the murderer would have been smart enough to get rid of any evidence of his killings.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**Mirage1234: Yes, I have. Though I confess I only read the first series. But I would someday like to read all of the books. I may borrow one or two elements from the series for this story.**

**Guest: I'm sorry, but I've never read that book, nor do I plan to ever read it. As such, I don't plan on writing a crossover with it.**

* * *

That night, Sophia and Bluebeard arrived at Francis's house and went upstairs, finding the room already filled with cats. "Francis is gonna have a nasty wakeup call." Bluebeard chuckled, sitting down.

Sophia sat by the Manx, nodding in agreement.

Soon, the ceremony started. Sophia looked anywhere but the front, where the electricity glowed with a sinister blue light, and tried to block out the occasional screams and burnt-fur smells of the electrocuted cats. Outside, it began raining. Thunder and lightning accompanied it.

"He suffered the cruelest tortures, day after day!" Joker yelled over the screaming cats and buzzing electricity. "But his vision is immortal, and he remains our inspiration!"

_Why does he let those cats torture themselves? Is it really in the name of a dead cat? Would Claudandus, whoever he was, really want other cats to kill themselves?_

"In the name of brother Claudandus! In the name of brother Claudandus, who sacrificed himself for our selfless lives! Claudandus! Oh, holy one, Claudandus! Hear us! Look down on our suffering! Hear thou our prayer!"

When the cats began chanting, Sophia glanced up at the ceiling, sighing. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar black and white face with green eyes staring down at the ceremony through a hole in the ceiling. _I guess Bluebeard was right._

When he saw her looking, Francis raised a paw to his mouth, silently shushing her. She nodded and took her eyes off of him.

"Those who believe in him will know truth!" Joker continued. "And the chosen shall know his blessing and mercy!"

"What were you lookin' at?" Bluebeard whispered.

Sophia glanced up at the ceiling, where Francis was still watching. "Huh. What'd I tell ya? A rude wakeup call." Bluebeard chuckled again.

Francis shifted his paws, causing debris to fall in front of and on Joker. Pausing in his monotonous chanting, the older cat looked up at the ceiling, eyes narrowing. Even before he yelled that there was someone upstairs, Sophia took off out of the room and up the stairs as fast as she could. She found Francis standing by a piece of wood propped up against another hole in the ceiling. "You're not reporting me, are you?" He asked.

Not pausing, Sophia climbed up the board and pulled herself through the hole into the attic. She could hear, behind her, paw steps thundering, voices screeching, and the board creaking as Francis climbed up. When Francis began slipping, Sophia grabbed his scruff and pulled him out of the hole. Looking down, she saw the board had cracked in half, and a few angry-looking cats scattered on the lower floor below.

"Thanks." Francis panting. Then, he gasped.

Turning, Sophia's jaw dropped at the sight of the room they were in. It was full of medical supplies, including a full operating table. "Looks like Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory from Hell." Francis gulped.

Both cats' ears perked up at a sudden noise. A trap door with a large crate on top began shaking. "Let's go." Francis said. "I don't want to be around when that opens. And I have a hunch I know what's below it."

Sophia nodded as she followed the black and white cat to the opposite side of the room. Moonlight shown in front of them through a hole in the wall, big enough for one cat at a time to squeeze through. It had stopped storming by then.

She wasted no time running for it and getting out. The wood left two or three scrapes in her exposed skin, but she ignored them as she paused, watching Francis pop out, but become halfway stuck. "Sophia! Help me! They're right on my tail!" He yelled.

She grabbed his scruff again and gave it a good tug. He popped out, and they both fell down the roof. Francis stopped himself on the gutter, and pulled Sophia back up as well. They both ran down the gutter just as a few cats slid down the roof behind them.

Soon, both cats were running down gutters and over roofs, not wasting a second to look back at the hoard of cats trailing after them. They made it to the ground, pausing by a gutter pipe. A cat stood nearby, hissing angrily at them both. Sophia brushed dirt in the cat's face and shot up the pipe. She could hear Francis climbing up after her. They popped out onto another roof, and were chased onto a board sticking out over a ledge, secured by only a cat-sized sandbag. _We're trapped!_ Sophia whimpered.

A long-haired cat tackled Francis with a growl. The black and white tom wrestled momentarily with his opponent before kicking him off into the sandbag. The cat sat back and watched as the board fell, taking Francis and Sophia with it. They jumped off and landed in a leaf-less tree. Francis landed on a thick branch with a thump, while Sophia dug her claws into the bark and slowed to a stop above him before jumping off and following him off of the tree and onto another roof.

_This was __not__ how I wanted to spend my night! I'll take attending the Claudandus sect ten times over __this__! At least I'm not being chased by dozens of mad cats._

After several more minutes of running, Francis and Sophia finally slowed to a walk, pausing behind a chimney by a sky window. They could hear the other cats meowing and chattering all around them. "I can smell him," One drawled. "Him and that silent, hairless one. They must be around here…they _were_ here."

Sophia backed away from the approaching shadows, gasping when she felt the window beneath her give away. She grabbed Francis's hind foot, taking her with him as she fell into a well-lit and warm room below. The sky window closed above them, and they could see the cats walk by, unaware that they had missed their targets by a few seconds. Both cats sighed with relief.

"You're both new in the neighborhood," A kind voice said behind them. "Aren't you?"

Sophia and Francis spun around to see a beautiful Russian Blue curled up on a green pillow in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace. They couldn't see her face, but they could see she had a golden collar, similar to Sophia's silver collar.

"Yes, that's right," Francis said. "Though Sophia's been here longer. My name's Francis—"

"Friend or foe?" The female asked suddenly.

"Friends." Francis immediately answered. "Friends forever."

"Two friends who fell suddenly out of the sky." She turned her head towards them. She had icy-blue eyes with very thin pupils.

"Well, not exactly," Francis shook his head. "Only through the sky window, not from the sky. We were running from some lunatics from the Claudandus sect. They were objecting to me watching their ceremony; Sophia helped me escape."

"That sounds typical of them." The Russian Blue said, sitting on the wide windowsill. "Why hasn't our new friend spoken?"

"She prefers to be seen but not heard." Francis shrugged. "But she means no harm. I think she is able to speak, but she chooses not to."

Sophia sat down near the female cat. "I see." She nodded. "Tell me, Francis, has it gotten light outside yet?"

Sophia's ears tilted in sadness and realization. "Yes," He said, jumping up and sitting down beside her. "But surely you can see that for your—"

Sophia hissed shortly, frowning slightly at him from the other side of the Russian Blue. He gasped softly in realization. "You're blind!"

"I'm not blind," She shook her head. "I just can't see." She jumped down and sat in front of the fire.

"Do you ever go out?" Francis asked as he and Sophia followed her.

"No. But not a day in my life goes by that I haven't wished I could see this world, evil and cruel though it is."

Sophia sat by the Russian Blue and leaned on her shoulder in condolence. "I, I'm sorry." Francis sighed, laying a paw on hers.

"Why? There are worse things in life, Francis. We can get used to anything…except having to live in a dog kennel, perhaps." She and Francis both chuckled at the joke. Sophia simply smiled.

"Have you always been like this?" Francis asked, then cleared his throat. "I mean,"

"Been blind?" The Russian Blue asked.

"Mm-hmm." Francis nodded.

"Yes, since birth." The female said, licking a paw. "But it's so strange, I see pictures. Pictures in my mind."

"What kind of pictures?" Francis asked.

"I see many people gathered around me. And they're so big, and somehow bright. This man bends over me, smiling. He has something shiny in his hand, and it causes terrible pain…and then I fall asleep." Sniffling, the female walked back to the windowsill.

Sophia exchanged a knowing glance with Francis, who nodded and said to the Russian Blue, "Sophia and I agree that you weren't blind from birth. Some human did something terrible to you."

"How can that be true?" The female disagreed. "Humans are the kindest creatures I know. Who else would give a useless thing like me a home?"

Shaking her head, Sophia joined the Russian Blue and gave her cheek a few licks. "Thank you." She said, smiling slightly.

"May I change the subject, er,"

"Felicity." The Russian Blue finally introduced herself.

"Have you heard anything you would call 'unusual' in the past several weeks?" Francis asked.

Twisting her mouth in a thinking expression, Felicity nodded, "Only death cries from fellow cats."

Sophia's ears perked up. "This means you're the first witness to the killings!" Francis said excitedly, jumping onto the windowsill as well.

"I don't see why this is so interesting."

"Why, Felicity! We're talking murder!"

"Murder? Oh, no, I'm sure you're wrong." Felicity shook her head. "I think it might have been mating rivalries that rose to another level."

Sophia pinned back one ear in confusion. "How do you think so?" Francis asked.

"The death cries are always from males. I could tell that they were sexually excited. And then there is someone else there. Someone they evidently know."

"And did this someone speak to these 'excited' males?"

"Yes, though I'm sorry to say I didn't hear what he said. But there was urgency in the tone of his voice. It was as if he was trying to convince or tell the other males something."

"And then?"

"And then I'd hear those awful cries." Felicity shuddered.

Sophia pursed her lips in thought. _So, that's two different cats saying the murder motives are related to sex. Interesting. Perhaps Francis was right in that this murderer wants to wipe out other competition. Does he want all of the female to himself? Or is it something else much deeper?_

"Do you know about the Claudandus sect?" Francis asked Felicity.

"Not much, I'm afraid." She said. "Only that the subject of their prayers is a dead martyr called Claudandus, who lived long ago. He was tortured by humans almost his whole life."

"Oh, my." Francis sighed.

A squeak from the ceiling suddenly sounded. All three cats looked up to see Bluebeard looking down through the sky window. "Why'd you run off?" He asked. "The brothers just wanted to talk with you."

"Oh, sure," Francis scoffed, jumping down to the floor. "With 300 bolts loosening my tongue?" He turned back to Felicity and promised, "I'll be back soon. But at the moment, I need to have a word with my 'friend,' here."

As he climbed up to the ceiling, Sophia had a feeling Francis was irritated at Bluebeard, not because of being nearly caught and possibly electrocuted, but because of something else. _That's right. We didn't tell him about the sect._

"Toots? Ya coming?" Bluebeard asked."

"Go on, Sophia," Felicity said. "I'll be fine here."

Standing and giving the Russian Blue one more lick, Sophia followed Francis out of the sky window and onto the roof. They both looked back to see Felicity sitting in the middle of the floor, gazing up at the ceiling.

"I hope we're doing the right thing in leaving her here alone." Francis sighed.

Sophia nodded in agreement, glancing back at the roof as she followed Francis and Bluebeard back to the house. The sun was rising, and Francis promised some extra fish for them both for breakfast.

* * *

**A/N Sorry for taking a while to upload. I had a bit of writers block, and am thinking of trying a big project, though it would be somewhat expensive.**

**Like I mentioned before, I'm mixing the original German version and the English dub version of the film for this story. So, there may be some dialogue from the English version, or from the German, or it might be mixed up, or I my write it all my own. In general, I'm trying not to directly copy from either versions of the film.**

**I was originally a bit worried about adding Sophia because I didn't want her to be involved with every moment of the movie. But at least one person was eager for her to meet Felicity, so I pulled a few strings and added her in. I think I wrote the chase scene realistically as if two cats were involved instead of one.**

**I was seriously considering having Felicity survive. But I'm afraid I'm going with the canon. Everyone who's seen the movie will know what this means :(**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

* * *

When the cats arrived at the house, the sun was over the horizon, and the sect was gone. Francis's human, a large, redheaded man named Gus, greeted the tom with enthusiasm. "Who're your new friends, Francis?" He ruffled Bluebeard's head, much to the Manx's chagrin. But under Francis's stern glare, he kept his tongue, settling for simply glaring at the can opener.

"Oh, this one's name is Sophia." Gus cooed, scratching under her chin. "Are you Francis's new girlfriend?"

Sophia hissed and shook her head, ignoring Francis's stern expression and Bluebeard's snicker. "It's a good thing I have extra fish for you all." Gus brought all three cats into the kitchen and laid three raw, beheaded fish on a plate on the counter. "Enjoy." He said before leaving the room.

Francis, Bluebeard, and Sophia jumped onto the counter. The toms sat in the sink, and Sophia lay down by the plate of fish. Bluebeard grabbed one in his mouth, while Sophia settled for taking small bites. Francis licked at his food and said to Bluebeard, "You and Sophia were happy enough when I decided to try and solve the case. But then you two hide valuable information from me."

_Didn't think it was __that__ important._

Bluebeard tried to say something, but the large fish in his mouth made it come out in muffles. "I'm sorry?" Francis asked.

Bluebeard pulled the fish out and said, "The sect's harmless. Just a cheap thrill or two to see who's chicken and who ain't. Not that important."

"Not that important?" Francis asked. "From what I witnessed last night, I wouldn't say so."

"The sect's been going on for several years now. Joker was the first to start it, as well as his gospel of Claudandus. And over the years, others and others have gotten more interested."

"So that large cat with the charm of a viper is Joker?"

Sophia nodded as she began to chew the tail of her fish. "I promise you, the whole thing is harmless, Francis," Bluebeard said. "No one even knows who Claudandus was. Perhaps he never even existed?" He licked his fish and asked if he could eat.

"Yes, of course," Francis nodded. "And then you can take me and Sophia to see this 'clever bastard' you mentioned?"

Bluebeard gulped down his fish in one bite, making Sophia cringe in disgust and push away her fish, which was nearly a skeleton by now. "As far as can openers go, yours is an exceptional cook." Bluebeard said.

"Thanks…I guess."

* * *

Later, Bluebeard led Francis and Sophia out of the house and yard, and along the fence. "I looked the name up in the dictionary," The black and white tom said. "And Claudandus is Latin, meaning, 'he who must or should be sealed.' What do you think _that_ means?"

"Let me put the old thinking cap on." Bluebeard said sincerely.

"Oh, so you _do_ think, yes?"

"I think all the time. Surprising, eh? I even read a book once." Bluebeard laughed. "How do you think I figured out Sophia's name without her telling me verbally?"

Sophia nodded with a smile when Francis looked back. "Well, you just keep surprising me, Bluebeard." He said.

"The house isn't too far off. Just a few yards to go."

They soon arrived at a tall house that reminded Sophia of a castle she saw in a book once from her second owner. She saw movement in the window on the second floor, but presumed it was the cat they were going to meet.

All three cats jumped into the yard in front of the front door. Bluebeard lifted his stubby tail at the porch and marked it. "Bluebeard was here." He sighed, chuckling when Sophia curled her lip in disgust and hurried inside.

Inside, the house had what looked like a dentist's chair. On the wall opposite were two ancient-looking, sexual paintings. Sophia hardly heard Francis and Bluebeard discussing whether the owner of the house was an art collector or pimp, or that he was a scientist who specialized in parapsychology. She was disgusted by the paintings, but somehow couldn't look away.

"I think Sophia's broken." Bluebeard laughed, snapping the Sphinx out of her spell. She shook herself and glanced away, cheeks red in embarrassment. She followed both toms upstairs into another room, with another large painting. This one was of an eerie-looking man with his hands clasped together at his stomach. The bottom of the painting was labelled, "G.J. Mendel."

Francis hummed in thought as he stared at the name. "Delighted to see you, my friends." An old voice said.

Turning around, the three cats saw an old Brown Havana sitting at a computer. A light-brown stripe led from his head down to his long tail. "I do hope you enjoyed your tour of the house." He turned around and jumped down to the floor. He had a square jaw and small brown eyes.

"So, this know-it—this brother is Francis," Bluebeard introduced. "And this even cleverer brother is Pascal."

"Francis? Francis…Well, I'm delighted to meet you."

Sophia nudged Bluebeard with her shoulder, smirking. "Oh yeah, and this silent sister is Sophia."

Pascal's ears perked up. "Oh, I see. Well, I'm honored to meet you, Sophia. I think we'll all get along just fine. May I offer any of you something to eat?"

"Thanks, but we've eaten already." Francis said.

Sophia shook her head, smiling politely. "Aw, shut up, asshole," Bluebeard muttered to Francis, and then said, "I think I can stomach a few more mouthfuls myself."

"Well, you know where the kitchen is." Pascal said. "You'll find some kidneys in a dish."

Licking his lips noisily, Bluebeard jumped down the stairs. Sophia rolled her eyes with a smile. _His stomach is definitely bigger than his eyes._

"If I may, I've never seen one of us work a computer before." Francis said as he and Pascal jumped onto the table. Sophia sat on the computer chair nearby, perking her ears up curiously at the monitor. She had seen her second owner use something similar, and had secretly played with the keys and mouse, quickly figuring out how it worked.

"I've been trying, in my own modest and feeble way, to use the computer to track down the murderer lurking around the neighborhood." He turned it on and punched in a few letters. "Do either of you know the meaning of this word: Felidae?"

Sophia shook her head. "Could it be the technical name for us felines?" Francis tried.

"Felidae…evolution has created a large variety of different creatures. But not one deserves more respect and admiration than the genus Felidae." With a few more clicks of the keyboard and mouse, a list of several cats popped up.

"Wow. What are these lists of?" Francis asked.

"Merely the residents of our home: names, ages, genders, races—that reminds me, I have yet to enter you and Sophia." Pascal said.

"How interesting."

"Indeed. And it could help us catch a murderer as well, perhaps."

"Did you know that all of the victims were—"

"Yes, were after some female in heat." Pascal interrupted.

Tilting an ear in thought, Sophia nudged Pascal, drew a paw across her neck, and gestured at the list. "I think she's saying to gather all of the dead profiles and see if they have a common feature." Francis translated.

Sophia nodded. "Hmm…simple enough." Pascal tapped the keyboard again. A new list appeared with five names, including Sascha and Deep Purple. "Well, apparently they weren't any special breeds of Felidae."

"But they had some things in common: males and European Shorthairs—"

"No, not all of them." Pascal shook his head. "I haven't entered the sixth victim yet."

"There's been another?" Francis's eyes widened.

_Oh no, please don't tell me it's who I think it was!_ She shook her head as the letters were typed in: F-E-L-I-C-I-T-Y.

"Felicity?!" Francis cried, staring at the screen.

"Yes," Pascal sighed. "Dear Felicity, I'm afraid."

"Pascal, no! That can't be true! Sophia and I left her only a few hours ago!" Francis jumped down to the floor and ran to the stairs.

Sophia followed after him, barely hearing Pascal say that someone had told him before she, Francis, and Bluebeard had arrived.

Francis ran by Bluebeard, who had just finished his second meal of the day. "What's your hurry?" He asked, not getting an answer. He grabbed Sophia's tail as she ran by, effectively stopping her in her tracks. "Where's de 'ire?" He mumbled.

"There's been a sixth murder," Pascal explained, coming into the kitchen. "Poor blind Felicity. Francis is running back to find her." He turned to Sophia. "The informant told me it was too horrific to imagine. I think you better stay here, Sophia."

Sophia crouched down on the floor, shivering madly. She barely noticed Bluebeard letting her tail go, or when he crouched down next to her.

As the two of them left Pascal's house, Francis returned. His eyes were wide, and his face was pale. "She's dead." He said numbly as they stood by a tree. Francis collapsed on his side, still staring blankly. Bluebeard sat in a tiny, nearby tree, and Sophia sat by the two tomes, lowering her head in sadness. _I should have followed my gut and stayed with her. I could have protected her._

"Pascal said the one who told him said it was nasty," Bluebeard finally said, breaking the silence.

"…It was the worse I think we've seen." Francis sighed. "She was laying in the middle of the floor…her head…her head was ripped from her body."

Sophia retched audibly at the thought. "And her eyes were wide open, as if even in the face of death, the thing she longed for, more than anything, was to see."

Sophia brushed a tear from her eye, sniffling. "It's sad, but life goes on." Bluebeard said in a surprisingly-solemn tone.

"Did you read that cliché from that book you say you read?!" Francis snapped, sitting up.

Sophia scowled lightly at the black and white tom. "I was only trying to help." Bluebeard said.

"I swear that whoever murdered dear Felicity is gonna pay!" Francis growled. Then, he shouted to the sky, "Do you hear me, bastard?! You're gonna pay!"

"We'll get ya, shit-head!" Bluebeard joined in.

Sophia simply hissed loudly and angrily.

"I don't care what Pascal thinks," Francis continued. "Felicity had been murdered because she knew too much about something." He began walking down the stone wall, muttering to himself.

"I'm sorry, Soph," Bluebeard said. "I didn't know her real well, but I assume you did?"

Sophia shrugged, still pondering. _Does this mean the murderer's decided to target queens as well? What did poor Felicity do to have to suffer such a cruel fate? Had she refused something that the murderer wanted to do? Or is Francis right in that she knew too much about the killings? Who could be next?_ She shuddered at the thought.

"Don't worry, Toots," Bluebeard stood up. "Francis and I aren't gonna let that shit-head hurt a single…er, whisker, on you."

Sophia smiled in appreciation, feeling a bit better that she had friends who would protect her. She licked Bluebeard's cheek and climbed onto the stone wall, not noticing the Manx frozen and stunned until she looked back and laughed.

* * *

Later that evening, unable to sleep, Sophia stepped out of the crate she and Bluebeard shared and began walking. She had no idea where she was going; she simply stared at the ground, watching one paw step in front of the other on the sidewalk, and eventually the stone wall.

She paused when she realized someone was following her. Her ears tilted back, but she heard no one. She sniffed at the air, finding the scent of an unfamiliar tom behind her. _Oh no! Is this the murderer?_ She slowly walked further down the wall, listening cautiously. Behind her, she heard slow paw steps. With a hiss, she jumped and spun in midair, turning herself around.

"Hush! I mean no harm!" The male exclaimed.

Sophia blinked in surprise. The creature tailing her was indeed a tom cat, but was unlike one she had ever seen. He had a slender build with a bushy tail, a thin face, and gorgeous yellow fur that almost looked golden in the dim light of nearby light poles. He had narrow golden eyes, a darker yellow stripe that led from his nose down to the tip of his tail, a white belly, and tuffed ear tips.

Sophia backed a step away, curling her lips back to reveal her sharp teeth, and pinning her ears back. "Be still! I am not the murderer you seek." He said, sitting down.

Sophia slowly sat down as well, though she kept a skeptical eye on the tom. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you my name at the moment, but would your name happen to be Sophia?"

She perked her ears up in surprise, nodding. "I've come to warn you: cease this meaningless mission of finding the murderer," The tom said. "Or you may find yourself between a rock and a hard place."

Sophia furrowed her eyebrows, lashing her tail back and forth. "This isn't a warning of hostility, but to ensure that more innocent lives aren't taken…or else, not so innocent. You be the judge." He leapt down to the ground and disappeared into the bushes.

_What on earth? That was certainly an odd character. He didn't seem very concerned about my or anyone else's safety. And what did he mean 'not so innocent'?_

Feeling a little shaken about the encounter, Sophia continued on her midnight walk, though her mind played back the encounter with the strange tom. _What sort of breed was he though? He didn't look like any housecat, stray or not, that I've ever seen. He looked more exotic and…wild._

* * *

**A/N I felt Bluebeard had to have met Gus in order to get free food, since Francis couldn't have possibly eat three fish all on his own (there really were three fish in the original film) Plus, Bluebeard probably wouldn't have believed Gus prepared the fish unless he saw it himself.**

**It probably won't be related to the story, but does anyone know what timeframe Felidae takes place? It has computers, but they look really old. Plus, even though the film was published in 1994, the novel was published five years prior. I'm also blind to the history of computers. If anyone knows the time period of when Felidae takes place, whether film or novel, I'd greatly appreciate it :)**

**I decided Sophia didn't need to be a part of every event in the movie (I try to not make my characters present during every minute of an original film/book if they appear in said film/book) and as such, I didn't write her finding Felicity's corpse.**

**I decided it would be really interesting if Sophia encountered another cat. For those who read the book and/or saw the movie, the hints of the cat having a wild appearance almost-golden fur, and golden eyes might sound familiar ;)**

**I posted a poll on my profile concerning the end of the film when Francis confronts the murderer. There are five choices to choose from, including a couple where Bluebeard actually helps Francis and/or Sophia against the killer, depending on said choice. Hopefully by the time the end of the film rolls around (I'll try and write past the end, though it won't be based on the books, as I've never read them) one of the choices will have a few votes.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**Mirage1234: Thank you :)**

* * *

Sophia continued on her nightly walk, finding herself at Francis's house. Her paws took her inside, pausing at the staircase. She saw Francis exit the bedroom to the left of the staircase. She trotted up to him, waving her tail in greeting. "Oh, good evening, Sophia." He nodded. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head. "Me neither. I just woke up from a horrific nightmare."

She sat down and cocked her head in curiosity. "Well, I was in a field that was literally made of dead cats, as far as the eye could see." Francis began explaining, sitting as well. "Then, a giant can opener rose out of the field, talking about Felidae being the answer to the puzzle, hybrid plant experiments, and some things Pascal said. I'm sure I recognize the man…well, never mind. It was a simple nightmare." He stood up and nudged open a door that was across the bedroom he had just exited. "Whenever my mind is full and racing, I usually go hunting to calm the nerves. Care to join me?"

Sophia nodded with a smile and followed the tom down to the basement. It was full of old furniture, papers, and random junk. In a small clearing, illuminated by lightning through a small window near the ceiling, were about half a dozen rats, grooming themselves and chewing on random pieces of garbage.

Francis slowly circled the group, while Sophia snuck in straight on. Then, they pounced. Squeaking, the rats ran for cover. One climbed up a stack of books and onto a table. Sophia and Francis ran after it. Francis bumped a VCR, causing a small television to come alive. Sophia skidded to a stop and looked at it curiously. As Francis caught and killed the rat on the floor, she twisted a knob on the VCR, eliminating the fuzziness some. "…funding for a year." An elderly voice said as a scene of a laboratory appeared on the television screen. The date in the upper right corner said Jan 24th,1980.

"This lab is my dream. Pharmarox has spared no expense. My assistants are Zeibold and Grey." Two young men appeared on the screen, both wearing doctor smocks and facial masks, and latex gloves. One had white skin and red hair, while the other had darker skin and black hair. The red-head was adjusting some knobs on a machine, while the darker-skinned man held a test tube of butter-colored, steaming solution.

An elderly man in a lab coat set a dark-gray cat on a table and petted its back, seemingly calming it. "I know that my tissue bonding adhesive will revolutionize medical science." The elderly man rolled the cat onto its side and pinned it to the table with metal rings, similar to large handcuffs. As it struggled and screeched, the red-head took out a scalpel and made a small incision in the back of the cat's head. The black man took out some of the solution with a dropper and put a drop on the wound on the cat's head. It immediately began bubbling, making the wound bigger, and the cat writhed in pain before slowly dying.

"The first experiment has failed," The elderly man said. "Instead of bonding the edges of the wound together, the mixture edged its way through the skull and into the brain. I can only conclude that the solution needs to be diluted further." The man drank from an alcoholic bottle, sighing.

The video cut forward to Apr 25th, 1980. Two cats were pinned to the table this time. A patch of fur was removed from the back of one of the cats' head, the skin was sliced, and the mixture was dripped on. Again, the skull was melted away, and the brain exposed. As the cat died, the elderly man drank again, groaning, "It simply defies logic!"

The video cut to a day later, showing the red-head setting a young, familiar-looking Havana Brown cat on the floor. "This morning, a strapping young stray found its way to the lab." The elderly man said as the cat explored the room very curiously. "We have decided to make him our mascot."

The video cut again to the first of May in the same year. "So many experiments gone wrong," The elderly man sighed as the Havana Brown was strapped to the table, like the other cats before him. "Now we only have our nameless mascot as a test subject."

The cat's shoulder was sliced, and the solution dripped on. Expecting another failure, the elderly man grabbed his bottle, went to take a sip, and dropped it in shock. "A miracle! I applied the mixture, and the wound was healed perfectly!"

The man took the groggy cat to a cage, saying proudly, "This young stray has proven to be an invaluable service to science." He shut the door and hung up a wooden sign. "I have named him Claudandus," Sophia and Francis's ears perked up in surprise. "And he will go down in medical his—"

The video suddenly cut ahead to Jun 19th, 1980. Claudandus was laying on a table, being injected with anesthesia. "We had to perform a dissection on Claudandus," The elderly man sighed. "Something in his genetic makeup enables him, unlike the other subjects, to absorb the healing mixture without any side effects. He must be a mutant."

Sophia cringed downward as they drilled into his head and slit his belly open. Francis patted her back as the video, now saying Aug 28th, 1980, showed the elderly man shaking a bottle while drunkenly slurring that their funding had been cut. "But I am Professor Preterius! A shortage of test subjects? No problem."

Now it was the eleventh of October, and Zeibold had apparently left the laboratory. Preterius let him leave, saying he would continue on his own. "Sacrifices must be made!"

Now the twentieth of November, Preterius said that thanks to his breeding program, and Claudandus, he had kittens to experiment on. He banged on Claudandus's cage, shouting about a new super race of cats.

The next clip had no date, and showed the front of Claudandus's cage. "Yes, Claudandus talked to me!" He giggled, almost sounding drunk. "How fascinating! The animal…has no sense of humor."

Out of the shadows of the cage appeared the angry face of Claudandus, now older, and more familiar-looking.

The video became to gray and fuzzy to be able to make out anything, though both cats could hear Preterius talking about letting Claudandus out of his cage and accepting a fight challenge. Sophia twisted the knob on the VCR, but the video quality wouldn't change. "I think that's it," Francis said. "There's no more. And quite frankly…I don't wish to see any more."

Sophia nodded in agreement, pressing the stop button on the VCR. _No wonder the sect worships Claudandus. To have survived those tortures for that long…I couldn't imagine. But why does he look so familiar?_

Suddenly, the peace was shattered when a familiar yell sounded. Whipping around, Sophia and Francis saw Kong jump down through the window and onto the floor. Crushing the rat Francis had caught and left, he snarled, "I _did_ say that you and I would have a chat in the not-too-distant future, didn't I?"

"I _would_ love to have a chat, but I have more important things to do." Francis said politely, jumping down to the floor and circling away from Kong.

"Well, you're gonna have to squeeze me in." The larger cat said.

"Kong, don't you think we should at least talk about more important things?"

"Sure, sure," He actually nodded. "I'm listening."

"I need your help," Sophia drew her head back in surprise, though neither cat noticed. "To find the crazy who's killing all of our brothers."

"You're looking right in his face." Kong said.

_What?!_

"You?!" Francis echoed Sophia's surprise. "But Kong, why _you_?"

"Why me? Well, like you, they didn't show me respect."

Sophia glanced at Francis as she shook her head. She didn't like Kong, but she didn't believe that he would kill anyone. "I agree with Sophia," Francis said. "There's no denying you're a tough guy, but I'm not convinced the blood is on _your_ paws."

"Well then, let's see if I can convince you." Kong laughed.

Behind Sophia and Francis were two snickers. Glancing back, they saw the Hermans standing on a tall stack of books and junk. "Three against two?" Francis frowned. "Is this fair?"

"Fair? Aw, hell no." Even Kong shook his head, though he didn't do anything to call the Hermans off.

Dodging the larger cat, Francis and Sophia scurried up another stack of books and through a bookshelf, only to find the window was boarded up. Turning around, they saw they were cornered. "Leave him to me," Kong snarled. "You two can have the ugly rat."

Sophia hissed at the three cats, lashing her thin tail. When the twins leapt, she and Francis jumped away as well, slicing both cats as they went. When they landed, before they could move, Kong grabbed Francis by the scruff and began shaking him about. Growling, Sophia leapt onto Kong's back and sunk her claws and teeth into the large hump. _Let go of my friend, you big ugly brute!_

While Kong was distracted, Francis sliced Kong's lip, making him drop the smaller tom and yell in pain. As he leapt away, Sophia jumped down as well and ran, though not before kicking some dust in his face. "You ugly bitch!" Kong screamed. "Get back here!"

Francis and Sophia managed to leap out of the window and take off, even though it was raining heavily. They ran out of the yard, only to find Kong and the Hermans climbing over the fence after them. They ran through yards and over small buildings, even falling into a fountain once.

As they slowed to a stop, panting, Sophia could smell something. Something that smelled like copper and death. And it was right under their feet.

Francis gasped in horror at what he saw, and muttered, "Oh no! Not this!"

Sophia looked as well; at the cats' feet was a dead she-cat laying on her side, eyes wide open. Only this time, it was worse: her belly had been sliced open, and several underdeveloped kittens laid by her in the grass and blood.

A loud, horrified scream sounded into the stormy night.

* * *

**A/N With this story, I have to watch the Felidae movie (which is on YouTube, luckily) to get English dialogue and see what certain characters are doing and where they are. The only script I've found is the German-to-English dialogue translation, with no actions described (like "Francis jumps onto stack of books" for example) But since I enjoy the movie, I don't mind having to watch it. Another good thing is the movie's divided into ten-twenty parts, making it easier to find a certain spot.**

**I never really noticed the video had a date in the corner until I watched that part of the movie for this chapter. That video took place in almost the whole year of 1980, and was probably several years prior. So _Felidae_ more than likely takes place in the 1990s-late 90s, which is just over twenty years shy of present day. I always like knowing time-periods of movies/books, and always find it interesting and kinda funny when movies take place in the present, especially the same year they were published.**

**During the film, I always cringed when the cat's head was drilled into X( No wonder he was so angry at the end of the tape.**

**Now we've found one of the most infamous Felidae deaths just after Felicity's: a mother cat and her unborn kittens.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**Mirage1234: Thanks :)**

**I didn't really recognize him until the end of the movie either.**

**That's what I figured. I know there's the whole movie in one take on YouTube, but when I'm trying to watch a certain part, I prefer the different parts; I meant to say the parts were divided into ten-twenty minute parts, eight in all, but I somehow left out the word "minutes."**

* * *

It took several minutes for Sophia to realize the scream was coming from her own throat. She blindly turned and ran out of the yard, deaf to Francis calling after her. Between the general murders, Felicity dying, and the mother cat and her kittens losing their lives, she felt like she was going insane. She just wanted it to end.

_I should have left when I found that first dead cat. I should have never come here in the first place._

She slowed to a stop, panting heavily. When she looked up, her ears tilted downwards when she realized she was standing in an intersection. She looked over her shoulder to see the headlights of a car approaching her. She stood frozen in fear, and almost on purpose. _Anything to end this nightmare._

Suddenly, something grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her back across the road, narrowly missing the car. She was dropped, and rolled a few times off of the sidewalk and into the grass. "What the hell were ya doin?!" An angry voice shouted.

Sophia blinked in surprise upon seeing that her angry savior was Bluebeard. "Were you tryin' to kill yourself?!"

Sophia remained crouched in the grass, shaking in remaining fear of the newest victim. "…Murder…murder…" She muttered, forgetting that she was meant to "be seen but not heard."

Bluebeard's ears perked up in surprise. "You're talkin'? Wait, 'murder'? There was another one?"

"…Slit belly…kits…innocent kits…blood…so much blood…"

"Sophia, snap out of it!" Bluebeard exclaimed, pushing her shoulders with his paws so she was sitting. "What happened?"

Shaking out of her spell, Sophia explained, "I visited Francis, and we saw a video detailing a can opener, named Preterius's experiments on cats, including Claudandus."

"So Claudandus _is_ real."

"Indeed. And it is no wonder that the sect worships him. He went through so many tortures…" It was weird for Sophia to hear her own voice again. It sounded scratchy and dull from not being used for years, and her throat ached from her scream. "Kong and the Hermans came in and chased us out. In the garden…there was a dead female cat. But it was worse than the last ones. Even Felicity's death."

"How so?"

She sniffled, wiping the still-fresh tearstains from her cheeks with her paw. "This female…she was with kits…her belly was slit open, and the kits…they laid in the grass. They weren't ready to be born….they were far from ready." She collapsed on her front and covered her eyes with her paws. "What did they do to deserve this cruel fate?" She sobbed, the picture of the dead female cat and her kittens flashing in her mind.

"Now it's kits?! Ones that didn't need to die?!" Bluebeard snarled. "You're right, those kits didn't need to die." He looked down at Sophia, who was still crying. Other than her nightly-whimpers, Bluebeard had never heard her voice before. Even though he had known her for a month, it was better now that he heard it.

But there were more pressing issues. There was another murder, and now kits were killed as well. Bluebeard didn't think much of kits, but that didn't mean they needed to be killed. Especially ones that weren't even ready to be born.

Suddenly, someone began wailing, "Solitaire! My poor little Solitaire!"

Sophia sat up, ears perked in surprise. "That's Kong yelling!"

"So, it was Solitaire, huh?" Bluebeard said, starting to walk in the direction of the yells. "No wonder he's pissed."

"Who was she?" Sophia asked, following him.

"One of his favorite girls. So the kits must have been his."

Sophia wrinkled her nose, trying to imagine Kong having feelings for a female. _Wait, he doesn't. He's just a perverted jerk who has a brothel._

Soon, the two cats found the garden where Solitaire laid dead. Kong and the Hermans were gone, as well as Francis. Sophia stayed away from the bodies as Bluebeard looked them over. "Yep, this is Solitaire."

Sophia sat nearby, thinking out loud, "Bluebeard…I don't think these are Kong's kits."

"What make you say that?" Bluebeard asked.

"They just don't look like him—"

"They don't even have separate toes. You can't say they're not his just because they don't look like him."

"I'm just trying to understand why the murderer would kill kits. What would they have to gain—"

A frightened yell suddenly sounded, and faded away and seemed to echo, as though they were falling down a hole. "Francis?!" Sophia jumped over the wall and ran towards where she heard the noise, finding a hole in a brick wall.

She looked down the hole and sniffed. She could smell Francis's scent, and an older, sicklier scent of another tom. _Who lives down here?_

She gasped when she felt Bluebeard crash into her from behind, causing both of them to somersault down the tunnel. Sophia fell flat on her front in front of black and white paws, and Bluebeard laid halfway down her back.

"Sophia!" Francis exclaimed. "I was wondering where you had gotten to. And you as well, Bluebeard."

The one-eyed Manx pushed himself up, grumbling, "I'm gettin' too old for slides." He nudged Sophia to her feet as well.

"Not so loud!" Francis shushed before turning around and walking deeper into the tunnel.

"'Not so loud?' What difference does it make?" Bluebeard asked as he and Sophia followed the black and white tom. "Kong's wailing like a banshee already. I found Sophia, saw poor Solitaire, and we followed you down here. But where are we now?"

"No idea." Francis shrugged.

Bluebeard glanced at Sophia, who had been silent during the whole exchange. "Why so quiet?" He whispered.

"I guess I'm still in the process of speaking again." She whispered back. _I haven't talked for so long, it feels so strange._

Francis gasped, pausing. Sophia and Bluebeard looked as well, and saw bare cat skeletons on the walls, and skulls in the ceiling. "Catacombs."

"If that's a joke," Bluebeard snorted.

"Shh." Sophia shushed, smiling. Francis simply rolled his eyes at the two cats and continued towards a light.

They came into a large room with a pedestal in the middle, and moonlight shining down through a small hole in the ceiling. All around the walls were hundreds upon hundreds of cat bodies, each in different stages of decay. Some of them were even dried, bleached-white skeletons.

"Get an eyeful of _that_!" Bluebeard exclaimed. "A mass grave! Whatta ya make of it?"

Francis sniffed at the air and wrinkled his nose. "You smell that?"

Bluebeard and Sophia sniffed as well. "Yeah," He curled his lip as Sophia pawed at her nose. "Disgusting!"

"The stench of decay. Kong was right, the old cat _is_ the killer."

"But no sign of Sascha down here," Bluebeard pointed out. "Or Deep Purple. Or Felicity."

Francis was staring at what appeared to be a fresh body. It still had its fur and flesh, and it seemed to be almost breathing. Sophia sniffed at it, recognizing the old, sickly scent she smelled at the mouth of the tunnel.

Both she and Francis jumped at a noise behind them. Looking back, they saw Bluebeard had accidentally knocked a skeleton to the ground. He looked up at them almost sheepishly, and then suddenly bared his teeth, growling.

Looking back ahead, Francis and Sophia came nose-to-nose with the older cat, who was alive and well. Sophia scrambled back with a small shriek of fright. Bluebeard and Francis stood in front of her, arching their backs and hissing.

"Do not attack the guardian of the dead!" The old cat pleaded, raising his paws up as if to shield himself. "Although, the guardian _has_ sinned in breaking the holy rule. He knows that he must pay dearly." He crouched down in submission.

"Do you always talk like this before you go for someone's throat?!" Francis snapped, approaching the cat and poking him. "What's your name, 'friend'?"

Sophia scowled at Francis before sitting in front of the old cat, smiling kindly. Getting a better look, she saw he was a gray Persian with small ears and sad yellow eyes. His tail and left front foreleg were bare, and he looked very thin.

"My name is Jesaja," He answered Francis in his sad voice.

"Is all this your doing?" Bluebeard asked. "I mean, did you have these cats killed, and then dragged them down here?"

"Oh, no, stranger." Jesaja shook his head. "It was not me. The dead come down here to me, being sent by the Prophet." He walked by the two toms to the skeleton Bluebeard had knocked over.

"A real nutcase, if you ask me." Bluebeard whispered to Francis and Sophia.

"Hush!" Sophia said out loud, surprising Francis, having never heard her uttering a word. "Let him speak." She turned to the older cat. "Do tell us where you came from, Jesaja. And how this horrible place came to be."

Jesaja gathered the skull and bones of the skeleton. "Well, dear sister, there once was a suffering dreamland. I was born there, along with many others. It was a place of great sorrow, until the Prophet came upon us and brought with him salvation." He replaced the skeleton as he continued to speak. "God heard the pleading prayers of the Prophet. And when the day exploded into light, the dreamland was destroyed, and all who were tormented fled away."

"What happened to the Prophet?" Francis asked, snapping from the shock of hearing Sophia speak for the first time since he had known her.

"He was taken into heaven." Jesaja answered. "Father Joker told me this."

"Joker?" Francis, Bluebeard, and Sophia glanced at each other in surprise. "The leader of the Claudandus sect?"

"This temple had been his home, even before he rescued me and took me in as his own." Jesaja slowly walked to the light-covered pedestal. "But then one day, Father Joker had to leave to spread the Prophet's message to others."

"And did Joker have this grave when he took you in?" Sophia asked, jumping into the small pit the pedestal stood in.

"No. When Father Joker and I lived here together, it wasn't like how you see it now. But one day, after Father Joker had left me, I heard mysterious, frightening sounds in the tunnel. I went to investigate, and to my horror, I found a dead sister." He climbed to the top of the pedestal, bathing in the moonlight. "And all at once, the Lord spoke to me."

"And what did He say?" Sophia asked politely. She wondered whether the Lord had indeed spoke to him, but she wanted to learn his side of the story, as she was sure Francis did as well.

"He said that I had been chosen to be the guardian of the dead. That I was to keep the lost souls of our brothers and sisters down here, and to never again return to the outside world. But it has all changed. I have not heard the Prophet's voice in so long, nor has he brought the dead down here. I have been…forgotten." He sighed.

"So, that's why you surfaced _tonight_?" Francis asked, joining Sophia. "To find new bodies to take to their final resting places?"

Jesaja simply glanced at Francis and nodded.

"Could you tell me something about the victims? I mean, where they…sexually-excited, when you found them?" Francis asked.

"That was often the case, my friend." He nodded. "But others…others had been horribly mutated."

"And were there any…who were pregnant?" Sophia asked uneasily.

"Many…oh yes…many." Jesaja sniffed.

Sophia climbed up the pedestal to join him, and laid a paw on his, ears tilted in sadness and sympathy. "You are a kind individual, dear sister," He said. "You and our other brother. But I'm afraid it is time for you to leave. I do hope nothing happens to any of you."

"And I you, Jesaja." Sophia answered. "I hope that someday, this whole nightmare will end."

* * *

Francis, Bluebeard, and Sophia were soon on the surface and walking along the brick wall. "That was the first time I ever heard you speak, Sophia." Francis remarked. "What inspired you to begin talking, after being silent for so long?"

"I guess seeing Solitaire's body and…kits broke the spell my father had over me." Sophia shrugged.

"What does your father have anything to do with it?"

"He was the one who taught me and my siblings to be seen but not heard. He was the cruelest to me, however, because I rebelled numerous times. But even though I am speaking now, I'm afraid I still may not speak much."

"That's fine." Francis said kindly. "I'm just happy you found the courage to defy your father."

Behind them, Bluebeard was daydreaming about cod filets, evidently on an empty stomach. "Cod?! Can't you think of anything besides food?" Francis asked, irritated, pausing and causing Bluebeard to bump into him, and Sophia into Bluebeard. "Can't you realize what this means? It's not seven murders we have to worry about, it's _hundreds_! They go back many years, probably starting after the closing of the laboratory." He glanced at Sophia, who nodded.

The "suffering dreamland" Jesaja had been born in and escaped from must have been the laboratory, and the Prophet must have been Claudandus.

"You made an important observation back in the mass grave, Bluebeard." Francis said. "Why weren't the last few bodies down there as well? Sascha, Deep Purple, Solitaire, or…or Felicity?"

"Maybe because the murderer's like me, and gettin' tired of the whole damn thing! All I want is a hot meal beside a warm fire," Bluebeard huffed, plopping on his belly on the wall before sliding off to the side. "All I want is codfish!"

"'I'm hungry! I'm tired!'" Francis mocked. "'I want cod filets in butter or mayonnaise!"

Sophia laughed at Francis before jumping down to Bluebeard, who was now lying in the grass. "The only one who would really know about Claudandus is Joker. But why this old preacher who just so happens to run a cult about Claudandus? Didn't you just say it was a cheap, harmless thrill?"

"Something like that." Bluebeard nodded.

"I wouldn't say 'harmless,'" Sophia shrugged. "What with all of the cats willingly electrocuting themselves."

Francis jumped down to join his friends and said, "Bluebeard, Sophia, I'm beginning to think that this sect has a very specific purpose. That it's preparing us for something special; something we can barely begin to imagine."

"Something like a fresh piece of fish?" Bluebeard grinned.

Deadpanning, Sophia smacked the Manx upside the head with a paw. "What?" He grumbled.

"Well, I think we've all had a rough night, and the worse is over." Francis sighed, stretching. "I don't know about you two, but I'm retiring for the night."

"I think we will too." Bluebeard nodded, climbing back up the wall.

"Good night, Francis." Sophia said, joining the older cat on the wall.

"Good night, you two. Be safe going home."

"You two, smartass."

* * *

**A/N As I said before, Sophia wasn't going to stay silent forever. Too bad it was a particularly-nasty murder that made her speak. I was kinda skeptic about making her speak in Jesaja's home, but I decided to go with it. She won't speak very much, as she hasn't spoken out loud in several years. But, like I said, she won't stay so silent anymore.**

**I'm gonna say right now that I'm not gonna write Francis's...encounter with the yellow female cat (I know her name, but I don't remember how to spell, or even pronounce it) If you seen the movie and...that scene, you'll get why. It's just gonna be loosely implied, as if it were cut out of the movie entirely.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**Mirage1234: Thanks :) I'm slowly implying it sparingly, since I don't plan for romance to be a big part of this story. But there's a bit of shipping in this, if you look carefully. Sophia tells a lot about her backstory in this chapter.**

**Interesting. I wonder why she was given such an unusual name. Perhaps it was meant to sound exotic?**

* * *

Just as Sophia and Bluebeard crawled under their makeshift shelter, it began to rain again. "Damn, someone's havin' a crybaby day up there." The Manx huffed, stretching. "But at least it'll wash away the blood, huh, Toots?"

Sophia was sitting at the mouth of the covered crate, staring out at the rain with solemn eyes. She barely heard Bluebeard speaking to her until he nudged her with a paw, making her jump. "Hey, I'm talkin' to you!"

"S-sorry. As I said, I'm not used to speaking." She said. "I haven't spoken for…goodness, for years."

Cocking his head, Bluebeard sat down next to Sophia, glancing at her. He had to slightly look up because she, like Francis, was slightly taller than him, even when they were both sitting. "…What happened with your family that made you go mute for almost your whole life?"

"…My family was somewhat old-fashioned. We were pets of a breeder, so we were like the upper-class cats. Father wanted me and my two siblings to follow the golden rule of being silent unless spoken to. My brothers followed it to a T, but I was unable to. I loved speaking. And I enjoyed teaching myself to read."

"Oh, so you can read too?"

She nodded. "My father hated that not only I could read, but especially that I refused to be silent. He would smack me around, and then shut me in a small, dark room until the next day. If I even said a word, it would happen again. Eventually, I learned to be silent…I never uttered another word until tonight."

"Didn't your other family help you?"

"No. Mother seemed to acknowledge that I was unhappy without my voice, but she never spoke against Father. My brothers wouldn't help me if you paid them. I imagine they didn't want to get in trouble over me. Our grandfather didn't know much about what was going on."

"Your dad didn't expect you to stay silent forever, did he?"

"When we were adopted out, he let us speak…well, I remained silent, but he seemed almost happy that I didn't speak. He just had a smug expression. While the can openers were looking over my brothers, I ran out on the streets. I was tired of being a pet, and decided to live on my own. Ever since then, I've been a wild cat."

"What about that collar?"

"Well, I _was_ once caught and given a name and collar. But I left after a while. I just kept the collar because I became used to it. It gave me my name as well."

"I never knew you disliked bein' a pet too." Bluebeard remarked.

"Me being very negative against a can opener finding me when we first met didn't give you a hint?" Sophia smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh, I never really gave it another thought." Bluebeard shrugged.

"At any rate, as I said before, I may not speak very much. Especially to cats other than you or Francis, or perhaps even Jesaja if we run into him again."

"So the smartass and I are special, huh?"

"Of course. You're both my dearest and closest friends." She smiled at the older Manx, but then turned back to the rain and sighed. "I'm afraid that one of us will get hurt, or worse, you or Francis. I just hope the murderer is stopped before anyone else dies. If you or Francis were killed…why, I would stop speaking altogether."

"Seriously? You barely started talkin', you said you enjoyed it when you were a little squirt, and you'd give it up like that?"

"Certainly. Since I've been silent for so long, it wouldn't matter to me if I stopped speaking again. And as I said, you and Francis are my closest friends." She crouched down slightly and nuzzled her head under Bluebeard's chin and against his chest, surprising him. "I would be so upset if either of you were hurt."

Bluebeard glanced down at her and from side-to-side, feeling quite awkward. He rarely ever had a female be this affectionate towards him, especially since they are usually put off by his gouged-out eye and scrawny left paw. Plus, he wasn't the most polite or gentleman-like cat on the block. That cat was Francis.

But Sophia seemed to look past this, as Francis had. Bluebeard indeed considered the black and white cat a good friend, even deeming the term "smartass" as an affectionate nickname, as "toots" had been for Sophia. But he never thought she would hint that she thought of the Manx as more than a friend.

Sensing Bluebeard's frozen state, Sophia sat up straight, looking embarrassed. "Sorry." She muttered, walking to and curling up on the pillow. She laid her head on her paws, shutting her eyes and feigning sleep. She didn't know what came over her, snuggling up to Bluebeard as though he were her mate. _Get your mind out of the gutter, Sophia. He said so himself that he had been with several females. So why would he show interest in you? Why are you even thinking of him as more than a friend?_

She felt the pillow shift as Bluebeard climbed on as well. To her surprise, he curled around her and laid his head next to hers. "'Night, Toots." He whispered, licking her cheek before falling asleep.

Sophia smiled softly, gently nuzzling his snout as she drifted into dreamland as well. She had pleasant dreams that night.

* * *

The next morning, Sophia slowly awoke from her slumbers, though she didn't open her eyes. She could feel and smell Bluebeard still sleeping close to her. Sighing happily, she snuggled tighter against him.

Suddenly, she felt Bluebeard stand to his feet in a flash, hissing and growling. Quickly opening her eyes and looking up, she saw the golden cat she had met the previous evening standing in the doorway of the crate.

"What the hell do you want?!" Bluebeard snarled, moving aside so he stood over Sophia, who was still lying on the pillow.

"Be still, stranger," The golden cat said in his soft, old-age-sounding voice. "I mean you and your friend no harm." He glanced at Sophia with a soft smile.

Sophia crawled out from under Bluebeard and sat down, frowning at the golden cat. "I'm afraid I still must remain unnamed for the time being." He said, glancing from her to Bluebeard, who still glared at him. "But I stand by my warning to your furless friend: cease this useless attempt at finding the murderer."

"Too bad, jackass," Bluebeard huffed. "Our friend is already too deep into it to quit. And he's a clever smartass who won't fall for any of your tricks."

"We shall see." The golden cat sniffed.

"What do you mean?"

"All I can say is your friend won't be harmed. He is, as you implied, too clever to be killed." He trotted away without another word.

Bluebeard looked over at Sophia with a raised eyebrow. "You've met him before?"

"Last night before I went to Francis's house," Sophia nodded. "He told me to stop finding the murderer before something happened. He claimed he wished to ensure no more innocent lives or taken…or not so innocent, as he called them. He also says he isn't the murderer."

Bluebeard shook his head, muttering about weird cats. "Who was he?" Sophia asked.

"I don't know him, but I know the breed, though not exactly the name. They've popped up in the last several years. But I doubt they're manmade, because even the can openers are surprised at their existence."

"Because they came out of nowhere?"

"That, and because they're not like you and I." Bluebeard continued, stretching and walking out into the sun. He and Sophia approached a large trashcan with a missing lid. As he knocked it over and pulled out a large, thrown-away hamburger, he explained, "They're wild, Toots. I might hiss and spit at Francis's can opener, but these new faces take it to another level. I've heard rumors about them attacking cats that have been here long enough. Not to mention they're weird lookin'."

Sophia nodded in agreement as she shared the hamburger with her Manx friend.

* * *

In late afternoon, Sophia and Bluebeard jumped onto the bathroom window of Francis's house, finding him asleep in the empty tub. A strong stench came from him, though it wasn't because of a skunk. Sophia shook her head with disgust as Bluebeard chuckled, wrinkling his nose, "Whew! What a stink! Smells like you've had some action."

Francis slowly opened his eyes with a sleepy moan. He stretched his arms and sighed, "I guess so. I hope you or Sophia know her, because I think she might help in solving the case."

"'Case'?" Bluebeard blinked in surprise. "Are you kiddin' me? Judging by the smell, the case wasn't what you were thinking about earlier today." He jumped into the bathroom, followed by Sophia.

"I have to agree with Bluebeard, Francis." Sophia smiled, sitting on the edge of the tub. "I highly doubt that the mystery was the first thing on your mind today. It was probably the last, if it were on your mind at all, judging by how tired you are."

Francis climbed onto the sink and yawned widely. "Holy cow," He muttered before saying, "Yeah, your right, my friends. I was distracted. But that's past, let's get to work. First thing's first: where can I find Joker?"

"He's probably at home, rehearsing his next Bible class." Bluebeard said.

"Where does he live?"

"A couple of blocks from here. His can opener has a shop for china, porcelain, and hand-blown glass."

"Why do you need to speak with Joker?" Sophia asked, scratching behind her ear with a foot.

"Well, first I want to talk to Pascal again," Francis said, still looking sleepy-eyed. "Meanwhile, I want you and Bluebeard to go get Joker, and tell him I want to talk to him about the murders."

Sophia and Bluebeard's ears perked up. "You really think Joker's the one doin' all this?" The Manx asked in surprise.

"Don't forget what Jesaja told us," Francis said. "Joker is deep, and I mean very deep in this. But the main question is whether I can really pin it on him or not. Oh, before I forget, that distraction I was talking about? It was a young lady I met this morning. She was of a breed I never came across before. Sandy fur, blazing yellow eyes,"

"Ah, I know that kind." Bluebeard said.

"We had a sort of run-in with a tom like that this morning," Sophia nodded. He too had sandy fur and yellow eyes. He looked quite wild and unfamiliar in terms of breeding. I had also met him briefly last night before arriving at your house."

"So, are there others like them?" Francis asked.

"You bet your ass there are." Bluebeard nodded, jumping back onto the windowsill. "They're all over the place lately. But, like I told Sophia earlier today, the can openers are as confused about their origins as the rest of us are."

"What do you mean?" Francis cocked his head.

"They're not manmade." Sophia explained, joining the one-eyed Manx. "And I think because of that, they seem to be moving backwards on the evolution change. Bluebeard said they're not quite like us: they're not like domestic cats, and because of that, are wilder."

"Like predators?" Francis asked.

"Exactly." Bluebeard nodded.

* * *

**A/N As I said before, a good chunk of this chapter is Sophia talking about her past. It's about the same as the prologue, but probably has a bit more light shed on it.**

**In case it wasn't quite obvious before (then again, I really didn't make it known) Sophia has a bit of a crush on Bluebeard. Probably because he's the first cat she met in the neighborhood. I'm not quite sure how he would react to Sophia liking him in that way, but I figured he wouldn't expect it. Sophia's kinda embarrassed about it, so she probably won't show as much affection as she did later. But I'm still figuring out the ending of the story (I really want Sophia to be a part of the ending, but I don't exactly want her "stealing" the role from Francis; that's why I have the poll for the ending up, so people can help a bit with choosing an ending. But despite that, I have a good idea about what kind I want) Like I said before, romance isn't gonna be a huge part of the story, but now that I think about it, I might put some in. Just not as much as quite a few of my other stories.**

**I don't really have a name for the male golden cat (he's the same breed as Nhozemphtekh, the female Francis met [geez, that name]) I just kinda made him up on a whim to make the story more interesting. He might pop up again in the after-movie writing. There are a few names on the Felidae Wiki that I can choose from; or if you'd like, one of you readers can suggest a name for him. Just try not to make it TOO hard to pronounce? XD**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**Mirage1234: Thanks :) I won't focus too much on their romance, maybe one or two moments.**

**Like I said, it sounds exotic. I guess it makes sense that it may be of African origin, seeing as the cats are modeled off of an Egyptian picture of a cat, and Egypt is in Africa.**

**I just might name him that later, because I plan on incorporating him more into the story than just one or two cameos.**

* * *

As Francis, Bluebeard, and Sophia left the house, it began to snow. Sophia glanced up, twitching her nose as a snowflake landed on her nose. _I hope it doesn't snow too much. I don't care too much for the cold._

At the staircase, Francis glanced at Sophia and said, "Erm, Sophia? Perhaps you should come with me. We'll be inside where it's warmer."

Sophia shivered slightly, turning to Bluebeard. "Go ahead, Toots. I'll be fine on my own." He said.

Nodding, Sophia followed after Francis as they made their way to Pascal's house. He pawed at the door while she looked around for another way in. She climbed under the porch fence and found a cat door. "Francis?" She said, nodding at the cat door.

"Good thinking." Francis smiled, following her inside. They found Pascal sitting in a velvet chair.

"Francis and Sophia. Welcome." He nodded. "I heard about poor Solitaire. Such a shame she, and her young, had to go."

Sophia's ears tilted, remembering the horrific scene. "We came here to talk with you about the murders, Pascal." Francis said, sitting on a short bookshelf. "We've gathered quite a few clues in the past day."

"Start from the beginning."

"Well, Sophia and I found a tape in the basement of our house. It was of a laboratory in the early eighties, manned by a scientist by the name of Preterius. He experimented horribly on several cats, eventually coming across Claudandus, who was able to take a healing solution he invented. But he continued to experiment on Claudandus, and used him to breed other test subjects. I think he eventually perished from all the torture, and the other cats escaped.

"After that, we found Solitaire, as well as a fragile old cat named Jasaja, who claimed to be the Guardian of the Dead in a deep cavern, filled with cat bodies. He said he was born in a 'suffering dreamland,' which I think was the laboratory. Father Joker of the Claudandus Sect originally took him down into the catacombs, and was the original one who told him about Claudandus. When the murders started, he was instructed by, what he thinks is the voice of Claudandus, to take the dead down into the catacombs. I think the murderer was using him to hide the bodies."

Pascal sighed and smiled, "Congratulations, my boy. I've lived in this neighborhood for years, yet I haven't recorded a fraction of the information you and Sophia have found out in the short time you were here. My compliments."

"Have you saved data on the brothers and sisters who suddenly, for whatever reason, have disappeared?" Francis asked.

"Certainly." Pascal nodded.

"Let's check the list, and see who and how many disappeared without any reason, and when. But I do wonder why the murderer's suddenly began leaving victims outside, rather than having Jesaja take them down into hiding."

"Very good point, Francis." Pascal agreed, standing and stretching. As he jumped to the floor, he continued, "Perhaps the murderer is beginning to make mistakes in his work."

"I can't really imagine that such a smart individual would make mistakes."

"Perhaps he's trying to send a message."

"That's what I was thinking."

"Good," Pascal nodded. "But what sort of message is he trying to send? And to whom?"

"I can't say to whom, but I think he just wants attention to himself and his work—"

"But unfortunately, the average intelligence of everyone else in this neighborhood is too low to get the message."

Sophia scowled at Pascal. _Is he saying everyone except himself and Francis is dumb? Because there are some cats who are still intelligent._

"Well, then, what about a certain special brother or sister? Maybe he wants to catch _their_ eye for one reason or another."

"Very good. Because for the first time, you're thinking of this as a mission. Don't you understand?" Pascal asked, jumping back into his chair. "He wants his motives to be known. He's as complicated as a puzzle-no, the killer _is_ the puzzle. And he wants someone…to solve it."

Humming in thought, Sophia glanced at Francis with a knowing eye. Nodding, he said, "Joker. He _must_ be our key suspect."

"Perhaps." Pascal agreed. "Let's say he witnessed the drama and carnage in Preterius's laboratory, and saw his chance to create a martyr religion around Claudandus's suffering."

"Sure." Francis nodded. "I forgot to mention, but I met a peculiar young lady today. She wasn't quite like other cats. And Bluebeard mentioned he and Sophia ran into a male, like her, a couple of times in the past day."

"Results of Preterius's genetic engineering?"

"Why not?" Francis shrugged.

"I'm not so sure. I'm afraid you're forgetting evolution, and the idea that a new breed could show up on its own over time."

"You mean natural selection?" Francis asked. "So, our new friends, and others like them, are the products of natural selection? I admit, that does sound _more_ logical."

"Indeed." Pascal agreed. "You are quite an intelligent creature, my boy."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without Bluebeard and Sophia. Despite Sophia's silence, she's proven to be an enormous help to the case." Francis smiled, patting her paw with his own.

Sophia glanced away, smiling humbly. "It is said the silent ones are the most intelligent ones," Pascal said wisely. "And I believe you, my dear, are one of them."

"You clowns m-minds if I b-b-butt in?" Bluebeard stepped into the room, shivering and covered in snow.

As he shook himself off, Francis asked, "Where's Joker?"

"He's gone. V-v-vamoosed."

"You mean he's disappeared?" Francis blinked in surprise.

Sophia sat close to Bluebeard and began licking the melted snow off of his fur. "Th-that's what I said, man." He nodded, still shivering.

"Perhaps you'd like a snack before you continue?" Pascal suggested, causing Sophia to raise her eyebrow in confusion at him. "My owner, Zeibold, has some fresh liver in my dish in the kitchen."

Bluebeard's eye lit up. "I love fresh liver!"

"Get to the point!" Francis snapped.

Shaking his head, Bluebeard explained, "I looked around the house Joker lives in. It's a nightmare! But I looked from bottom to top, with no sign of him anywhere."

Sophia and Francis exchanged surprised glances. "That must mean Joker's been murder—"

"No," Pascal suddenly interrupted. "He's just vanished. He knew you were closing in on him."

"I'm sorry, but I disagree. It couldn't be that simple—"

"Hold on, hold on," Pascal held up a paw. "First thing tomorrow, we'll check the list, and see how many possible survivors of the Preterius laboratory there are.

* * *

"Better watch your tail a bit more carefully, Smartass." Bluebeard remarked as the three cat's left Pascal's house. "And you too, Toots."

"Otherwise?" She asked.

"You'll get hurt, plain and simple."

"What do you mean by that?" Francis asked.

"Ain't it obvious? With you makin' like Sherlock Holmes, the killer's bound to be pissed that you're figuring out his schemes. He might try to do something about you."

Sophia nodded in agreement. "He's right. We know too much. Just like…just like Felicity did."

"And Pascal." Francis added. "He knows more than you or me."

"Well, I don't think you'll have to worry about that old rascal." Bluebeard said. "If what you've uncovered is true, then only the ones who have balls are the ones being taken out. And he was neutered a long time ago. Besides…he's not gonna be around much longer." He sighed with a surprisingly somber expression.

"Why's that?" Sophia asked.

"He's got stomach cancer. It just got around the neighborhood recently. The vet's given him at least six months to live." He turned and left Francis sitting in the snow, deep in his thoughts.

Sophia bounded after Bluebeard, scoffing, "Why is it when someone is sick, they are always given six months to live?"

"Heck if _I_ know. I ain't a doctor."

"But either way…I feel sorry for Pascal. He seems like such a kind sort."

"Well, that's another health-related cliché: the nice ones get sick and die; the bastards live long, healthy lives."

"I guess you're gonna be around longer." Sophia chuckled.

"I gue—hey!"

The Sphinx laughed, running away when Bluebeard swiped snow in her direction. "Stop it! I don't have fur! I'll freeze!" She paused to kick snow at the Manx before taking off.

Suddenly, something large landed on her, sending them tumbling. She lay back in the snow, laughing when she saw it was Bluebeard sitting on her. "You need to be put in your place." He smirked, trying to look menacing and failing.

"Oh, do I?" She smiled back, nuzzling his snout. "But tomorrow perhaps? I really am cold, and I want to go home."

"All right, I'll let you off easy this one time." Bluebeard climbed off of Sophia, and nudged her to her feet, before the two walked for home.

* * *

**A/N With Halloween nearing, I've been a bit busy trying to figure things out for my costume, as well as working on another costume that's just a project.**

**I was gonna have Sophia go with Bluebeard, but I figured it would be better that she interacted with other characters.**

**I couldn't resist adding an extra moment between Sophia and Bluebeard in the end.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N I don't own this story or characters; I only own Sophia.**

**Mirage1234: Thanks :) Yeah, it was kinda boring, especially since I didn't write Bluebeard's POV when he was going through Joker's house. But I DID try to spice it up a bit, especially with Sophia's part of the story.**

* * *

The next morning, Sophia was walking around the neighborhood, keeping an eye out for the killer. She was especially cautious because of the comment Bluebeard made the previous night. Now that she knew the killer had no qualms with killing any gender or age of cat, everyone, including herself, had to stay on their toes.

As she trotted along the sidewalk, she heard rustling in the grass. Freezing, she sniffed at the air. The scent was cat, and was very vaguely familiar. Scowling, she slowly walked down the sidewalk, listening carefully. The rustling seemed to be following her.

Whipping around quickly, Sophia leapt into the bushes, tackling another animal. After they tumbled away a foot or two, and they landed to where she was pinning him down, she realized it was the sandy-colored cat she had met twice before.

"So, you found me." He said. "Of course, you probably heard me behind you."

Sophia simply scowled down at him. "Who the hell _are_ you?!"

"Ah, so you _do_ speak. Let me up, and I will tell you."

Sophia tentatively backed off of the cat, still glaring at him. "Now then, my name is Chrochoch."

"And what exactly are you, Chrochoch?"

"A new breed of feline…yet old. Old and new."

"What on earth does _that_ mean?"

"You're a smart female, Sophia. You figure it out on your own."

"How do you know who I am?"

"That, I cannot tell you."

"Are you here to try and discourage me and my friends from finding the murderer? Because we are nearly there."

"I suppose you are still insistent on finding the murderer. I applaud you and your friends for your perseverance and determination. You and your friends are quite intelligent."

"I've heard that before." She scoffed. "And don't try to butter me up with flattery. You've still been obscure enough that I suspected you of—"

"Being the murderer? I'm afraid you have the wrong cat, my dear." Chrochoch smiled. "Of course, with your intelligence, you shouldn't have trouble finding the actual murderer."

"I can't solve the mystery on my own. Francis is the one who is closer to finding the murderer anyway. Especially with the few clues your friend left him."

"My frien—oh! Nhozemphtekh, you mean?"

"…I don't know. She didn't tell Francis her name."

"She mentioned meeting him in his garden."

"Bluebeard also told me about your kind." Sophia curled her lip. "Especially that you are much more wild than us."

"Is that bad?" Chrochoch raised an eyebrow.

"Only the fact that I fear you, or your mastermind, may try and choke us domestic cats out of the neighborhood, if not out of existence entirely."

"You don't trust me?" Chrochoch purred, beginning to circle around Sophia.

"Not in the slightest." She sniffed. "I wouldn't trust you, or any of your kind, if you were the last cats on earth. Thank heavens you aren't."

"You don't even find me a bit…attractive?"

"There's a slight appeal to your appearance, I'll give you that. But being that I and my breed aren't the most glorious cats, I've learned to look past appearances, and look more into a person's personality."

"Your one-eyed friend has a certainly…_interesting_ personality."

"He may not be the most polite or sensitive sort, but his heart is in the right place." Sophia turned away, flicking up her tail. "If you'll excuse me, I must return to my walk."

"…Good luck, Sophia."

* * *

That evening, Pascal and Francis gathered almost every cat in the neighborhood to the second floor of the latter's house for a meeting. Joker was still missing, so he didn't come.

Pascal and Francis sat on the electricity-creating machine, which had been turned off, while Bluebeard and Sophia sat on the box nearby.

"My friends," Pascal said to the huge crowd. "We thank you that so many of you were able to attend this meeting."

"You better have a good reason for this, gramps!" Kong snapped from the back of the room. "Otherwise, someone's gonna pay dearly for making me miss my favorite TV show!"

Several cats, including the Hermans, laughed. Sophia hissed loudly, making everyone freeze. "Kong, you pea-brained, idiotic rhinoceros!" Francis scowled. "Don't you care that we're trying to find the one who murdered Solitaire?! Who you say you 'loved'?"

_Ouch. That's quite a burn._

Shaking with anger, Kong growled, "I'll catch the bastard sooner or later anyway!"

"You won't catch anyone!" Francis countered. "Do you really think he'll someday find you and beg for your forgiveness?"

"I was just joking." Kong mumbled.

"I don't care. What I _do_ care about is that the killer doesn't have the same sense of humor as you or I."

Pascal took over, "Francis and I looked over the computer data, and have discovered something: the murderer hasn't claimed seven lives…but rather four hundred and fifty!"

Everyone in the room gasped in horror. Even Sophia, who hadn't been around when they made the discovery, shuddered. _Four hundred and fifty dead souls?! No wonder Jesaja's home is basically decorated with bones and corpses!_

"These murders—these murders!" Pascal shouted briefly, silencing the crowd. "They are more than likely connected to the ghastly secrets of the criminal Preterius's laboratory long ago. Horrible experiments were conducted on many of you, though you may not remember it."

Looking around, Sophia noticed a lot of the chattering cats had some sorts of disfigurements or scars. Looking to her left, she noticed Bluebeard examining his mangled paw with a thoughtful expression. She patted his left paw with her own, smiling sympathetically.

"Quiet!" Kong yelled, silencing the crowd. "Haven't any of you wondered exactly _why_ a lot of us crawl or hobble around the neighborhood like wrecks?! So, be quiet, and let him continue! Perhaps he can present us with the murderer."

"No, I'm afraid I haven't drawn that conclusion yet." Francis shook his head. "But I _may_ be able to reveal some truth." He glanced among the crowd, continuing, "I know a great many of you, fellow brothers and sisters, pay homage to the passed Claudandus, who suffered the worst torment in Prof. Preterius's labo—"

"He didn't die." A small voice said.

Everyone in the crowd turned to a small, light-gray female cat with pretty light-green eyes. "And why do you think that?" Francis asked.

"Great-Grandfather told me so." The young cat said.

"And who is your great-grandfather?"

"Father Joker." She answered.

Francis's ears perked up curiously. Sophia glanced at Bluebeard in surprise, who shrugged. "Tell us more, please." Francis said.

"He told me that Claudandus escaped and challenged the monster to a fight, and won, killing him." The small cat continued.

After a brief pause, Francis said, "My friends, the only one who could tell us what Claudandus looked like, and could lead us to him, is Joker. But Joker is dead—"

"Gone!" Pascal interrupted with a surprisingly harsh expression. He turned to the confused crowd and continued, "If you ask me, Joker has assumed the identity of the prophet. Claudandus is dead. No one could have survived such torture, I assure you. But Joker lives, and has run. Thanks to brother Francis, his sinister plans have been foiled!"

Sophia scowled at Pascal. Not because he gave sole credit to Francis; she no longer cared about that. It was because he had been so quick to blame Joker on the deaths that it made her suspicious. Especially with the story the young cat had told them. If she knew anything about children, they believed anything their family told them. _After all, why would Joker lie to his great-granddaughter? Unless what he told her was the truth. In that case, we really need to find Joker and get this mess straightened out._

Shaking his head, Francis leapt off of the generator and left the room, followed by Bluebeard and Sophia. "Bluebeard," He whispered as the other cats passed them by. "I want to go to Joker's house. I know you already searched it, but I feel that Joker couldn't truly have left. Something happened to him."

Sighing bitterly, Bluebeard said, "All right, I'll take you there later."

* * *

"I already told you two I searched the place, bottom to top." He later said when he, Francis, and Sophia arrived at Joker's house.

"Exactly!" Francis said. "You were always looking up. You couldn't see the top of the shelves."

"Too lazy to climb, Bluebeard?" Sophia chuckled.

He simply rolled his eyes with a grunt, leading them to the doorway he had used to previously enter the house. But now it was boarded and nailed shut.

Pawing at the boards, Bluebeard asked, "What now?"

Looking around, Francis spotted a tall tree, with strong branches near the roof of the house. "Well, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." He sighed, approaching the tree.

"Shall I climb instead?" Sophia asked. "I think without my fur, I'm a bit lighter in weight. Besides, I've climbed trees numerous times in my life."

"If you'd like." Francis shrugged.

"Just don't fall." Bluebeard said.

"I'll try not to." She smiled. Taking a deep breath, she began climbing up the tree, digging her long claws into the bark. She gasped when her paw slipped.

Down below, Francis and Bluebeard gasped as well. The Manx groaned worriedly while the black and white tom watched the Sphinx closely, ready to pounce and cushion her fall in case she slipped and fell.

She soon made it to the thickest branch that also lead to the roof of the house. She hugged the branch and inched along it like a caterpillar. Unfortunately, the snow made it slippery, and she screamed as she slipped off, barely managing to grab the branch with her front claws.

"Soph!" Bluebeard exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

Francis held a paw in front of him and yelled, "Are you all right?"

"Piece of cake!" She scoffed, climbing back onto the branch. "I'm all right!" Under her breath, she mumbled worriedly, "Oh, I'm gonna die." As soon as she was sure she was secure, she glanced at the ground, gulping nervously when she saw how small Bluebeard and Francis were on the ground.

Taking a deep breath, she ran along the branch and leapt onto the roof, sighing heavily with relief when she sank into the cold snow. She found a window that looked inside, covered with frost. Wiping it away with her paw, she peered inside, finding a room full of china and statues of cats. Among them on the top shelf, curled up, was Joker. From what she could tell, his throat had been slit, and his blood coated his chest and forearms, and dripped on the shelves and pottery around him.

"Well?!" Francis called from down below. "What do you see?"

Sophia turned around and poked her head out from above the roof to see Francis and Bluebeard. "You were right, Francis. Joker was murdered. But this one was different: he allowed it."

"You mean he was executed?" Bluebeard asked.

"But why would Joker have allowed himself to be killed?" Sophia wondered out loud, climbing back onto the branch. "What secret did he have to keep and take to the grave?"

"Claudandus!" Francis exclaimed. "His great-granddaughter was right: Claudandus is still alive!"

"How're you gonna get back down, Toots?" Bluebeard asked Sophia, who was against the trunk of the tree by now.

Thinking briefly, she smiled, "Easy. Easy-peasy." She sunk her claws into the bark of the trunk, and began slowly climbing backwards and down the tree. About halfway down, however, her hind feet, which had merely been braced against the tree, slipped. With a scream, she fell all the way down and into the snow.

Francis and Bluebeard ran to her. "Are you okay?" Francis asked.

Sophia poked her head up and shook the snow off. "Like I said, easy-peasy."

"Yeah, 'easy-peasy.'" Bluebeard scoffed. "Ya almost gave me a heart attack!"

"I didn't mean to slip several times." She shivered as a breeze blew by as she stood back up.

"Let's go back to my house and regroup." Francis suggested. "We could get warmed up, food, and try to think."

"You had me at 'food,' Smartass." Bluebeard remarked, following Francis away from the house.

"Surprise, surprise." Sophia shook her head with a smile, following the males closely.

* * *

**A/N We're getting close to the ending. I'm still figuring out how to write the ending. Like I said, I want to write Sophia into it, but I don't really want her replacing Francis's part in discovering the villain, since I'm afraid people would find this cliche and mary-sueish. Plus, though I didn't say before, I also want Bluebeard more involved in the final part than he was in the movie. He wasn't even as involved in the plot in the book as he was in the film.**

**Like I also said previously, I wanted to involve the mystery cat some more, who finally has a name. Mirage1234 suggested Chrochoch, who was a canon cat in the book, though wasn't mentioned much, to my knowledge. I haven't read the book the movie was based on, though I wouldn't mind reading it someday. I figured it would be interesting that Chrochoch (which, according to Google Translate, is pronounced kreh-chotch [you can click the volume button in either translation/translated box to hear how it's pronounced]) would show some interest in Sophia, like how Nhozemphtekh potentially did with Francis. Unfortunately for him, Sophia's not interested.**

**Even though I don't want Sophia replacing Francis during the climax of the film, I figured it wouldn't hurt having her climb the tree to investigate Joker's house instead of him. Plus, Bluebeard technically reacted the same way to her climbing as he did to Francis originally climbing, minus yelling Sophia's name, of course. BTW, her answer to Francis when he asks if she was okay while she was climbing the tree was borrowed from _Ice Age_.**


End file.
